In the UK, social security contributions are known as national insurance contributions (NIC).
NIC is broken down into different classes which are payable depending on the type of the individual's earnings and their circumstances:
| Type of NIC | Payable | Thresholds and rates—2025/26 tax year | Technical references and further reading |
| Class 1 | Employment income paid in money or money's worth. Paid by employees aged between 16 and UK state pension age (primary contributions) and employers (secondary contributions).
Collected by the employer from gross pay via the payroll and paid to HMRC under the pay as you earn (PAYE) regime. The relevant thresholds are those that correspond to the payment period, eg monthly payroll uses the monthly thresholds. Directors NIC is calculated on an annualised basis using the annual thresholds | Primary contributions (employee):
Main primary percentage paid on earnings between the primary threshold and the upper earnings limit 2025/26 is 8%.
Additional primary percentage paid on earnings above the upper earnings limit 2025/26 tax year is 2%
Primary threshold 2025/26 is £12,570 per tax year
Upper earnings limit is £50,270 per tax year | |
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Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 13:30