UK National Insurance calculator 2026/27 2026/27
Work out UK National Insurance for 2026/27 - employee and employer Class 1 on HMRC's weekly and monthly thresholds, plus Class 4 on profits.
Employee and employer Class 1, Class 4 on self-employed profits, and what a voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 year costs. Unlike an annual take-home estimate, this works on HMRC's published per-period thresholds - £242 a week and £1,048 a month, not £12,570 divided down - because that is how National Insurance is actually charged. Reproduces HMRC's own worked examples from CA44 to the penny.
The 2026/27 thresholds, per period
HMRC's own figures. The weekly column is not the annual one divided by 52, and that is the whole reason National Insurance is worth its own calculator.
| Threshold | Weekly | Monthly | Annual | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Earnings Limit | £129 | £559 | £6,708 | Earn this much and the year counts towards your State Pension, even though nothing is payable. |
| Secondary Threshold | £96 | £417 | £5,000 | Above this your employer starts paying their 15%. |
| Primary Threshold | £242 | £1,048 | £12,570 | Above this you start paying your 8%. |
| Upper Earnings Limit | £967 | £4,189 | £50,270 | Above this your rate drops to 2%. |
Employee rate 8% then 2%; employer rate 15%. Class 4 runs at 6% between £12,570 and £50,270 of profits, then 2%. Class 2 is £3.65 a week, voluntary below the £7,105 Small Profits Threshold and credited above it.
Worked scenarios for 2026/27
- Employee on £25,000, paid monthly£994Class 1 £994Employer pays £2,999
- Employee on £35,000, paid monthly£1,794Class 1 £1,794Employer pays £4,499
- Employee on £60,000, paid monthly£3,210Class 1 £3,210Employer pays £8,249
- Employee on £30,000, paid weekly£1,393Class 1 £1,393Employer pays £3,751
- Sole trader, £40,000 profits£1,646Class 4 £1,646Employer pays £0
- Employed £30,000 plus £15,000 side profits£1,540Class 1 £1,394 + Class 4 £146Employer pays £3,749
What National Insurance actually is
National Insurance is a second income tax with a different name, a different threshold and one feature Income Tax does not have: paying it builds a record that decides what you get back. gov.uk lists what contributions count towards: Basic State Pension, Additional State Pension, New State Pension, New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Maternity Allowance and Bereavement Support Payment.
With one exception that surprises people: Class 4 does not count towards any of it. gov.uk is explicit that the 6% and 2% a self-employed person pays on profits buys no entitlement to state benefits or pensions. What protects a self-employed person’s record is Class 2 — credited automatically above the Small Profits Threshold since April 2024, and available to buy below it.
That is why the calculator reports a qualifying year separately from the amount due. The two questions come apart, and in one band they answer differently: earn between the Lower Earnings Limit and the Primary Threshold and you pay nothing while still earning a full qualifying year.
The earnings period is the thing most calculators get wrong
Income Tax is cumulative across the year. National Insurance is not. Class 1 is charged on the earnings in each pay period against that period’s own thresholds, which is why HMRC publishes three sets of them rather than one annual figure to divide down.
The weekly Primary Threshold is £242. Fifty-two weeks of that is £12,584, not £12,570 — so the annual and weekly bases genuinely disagree, by design. The difference on an ordinary salary is small. The difference on lumpy pay is not:
- A month with a large bonus can run past that month’s Upper Earnings Limit, so part of the bonus attracts 2% rather than 8%.
- A quiet month wastes that month’s threshold entirely. Nothing carries forward.
- Two months of £4,000 and £1,000 attract more National Insurance than two months of £2,500 each, on identical annual pay.
None of this is avoidance and none of it can be planned around by an employee — you are paid when you are paid. It matters because it explains a payslip that does not match an annual estimate, and it is exactly the case where a divide-by-twelve calculator misleads.
Directors are assessed annually, whatever their payslip says
Regulation 8 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 gives a company director an annual earnings period regardless of how often they are paid. HMRC’s CA44 booklet puts it plainly: “the earnings period for the assessment of directors’ NICs remains an annual one.”
A company may still operate payroll monthly and pay National Insurance on account through the year, but the final payment of the tax year is reassessed on the annual basis and the difference settled then. The practical consequence is the one directors notice: a bonus cannot be sheltered by the month it lands in, because there is only one period and it is the whole year.
Choose the annual earnings period in the calculator above to model this.
The four classes, and which are bills
| Class | Who | 2026/27 | Is it a charge? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1 employee | Employees | 8% between PT and UEL, 2% above | Yes, deducted at source |
| Class 1 employer | Employers | 15% above the Secondary Threshold | Yes, paid by the employer |
| Class 2 | Self-employed | £3.65 a week | No — voluntary since April 2024 |
| Class 3 | Anyone with a gap | £18.40 a week | No — voluntary |
| Class 4 | Self-employed | 6% between LPL and UPL, 2% above | Yes, via Self Assessment |
Class 2 is the one that changed. Since April 2024 a self-employed person with profits at or above the Small Profits Threshold is treated as having paid Class 2 without paying anything — the contribution is credited, not billed. Below the threshold it becomes a voluntary purchase, and a cheap one: at £3.65 a week it costs about a fifth of what Class 3 costs for the identical qualifying year.
Filling a gap in your record
Before buying anything, check the record itself. Some years cannot be filled, some are already covered by credits you may not know about — carer’s credits, Child Benefit credits for a parent of a child under 12, credits while claiming certain benefits — and a year bought unnecessarily is not refundable.
Where a gap is real and fillable, what a year is worth depends on your own record rather than on a formula. gov.uk: “If your National Insurance record started after April 2016 you will need 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of new State Pension”, and “If you were contracted out, you will usually need more than 35 qualifying years”. Ten qualifying years is the minimum for any new State Pension at all. Get a State Pension forecast first — it prices the specific year you are considering — and weigh that against £956.80 for a Class 3 year, or £189.80 for a Class 2 year if you are eligible for one.
What this calculator does not model
- Part-year category changes. The category letter is an input, and every letter on gov.uk’s category-letters page is modelled (the mariner letters in CA42 are not) - see the category letters page for what each one carries. What is not modelled is a change of letter part-way through the year, such as turning 21 in October: pick the letter that applies to the months you are asking about.
- The annual maximum. Someone with several jobs can end up paying more Class 1 than the annual maximum allows, and can apply for deferment or a refund.
- Class 1A and Class 1B, which employers pay on benefits in kind and PAYE Settlement Agreements rather than on wages.
National Insurance by salary
What comes off your pay, and what your employer owes on top, at each salary. Every page compares the weekly, monthly and director bases for 2026/27.
Related calculators
Other UK tax calculators that pair with the National Insurance.
Frequently asked questions
How much National Insurance do I pay on my salary?
As an employee in 2026/27 you pay nothing on the first £12,570 a year, 8% between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% on anything above that. On £35,000 that works out at £149.49 a month and £1,793.92 across a year of monthly payslips - the annual-basis figure is £1,794.40, and the gap is the difference between twelve monthly thresholds (12 x £1,048 = £12,576) and one annual one (£12,570), charged at 8%. Your employer separately pays 15% on everything you earn above £5,000, which never appears on your payslip but is part of what you cost.
Why does the calculator ask how often I am paid?
Because National Insurance is charged on each pay packet against that period's own thresholds, not on your total for the year. HMRC publishes those thresholds separately - £242 a week, £1,048 a month, £12,570 a year - and £242 x 52 is £12,584, not £12,570. The practical consequence is that the same annual pay produces a slightly different NI bill depending on how it arrives, and a single large month can push earnings past that month's Upper Earnings Limit into the 2% band while leaving thresholds unused in quieter months.
Do company directors pay National Insurance differently?
Yes. Under Regulation 8 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 a director has an annual earnings period however often they are paid, so the year's total is what matters and a bonus cannot be sheltered by landing in one month. HMRC's CA44 booklet allows payments on account through the year on the normal pay intervals, but the final payment of the tax year is reassessed on the annual basis and the difference settled then. Choose the annual earnings period here to model a director.
Do I still pay Class 2 National Insurance if I am self-employed?
Not as a charge. Since April 2024 a self-employed person with profits at or above the Small Profits Threshold - £7,105 in 2026/27 - is treated as having paid Class 2 without paying anything, so the contribution is credited rather than billed. Below that threshold Class 2 becomes voluntary at £3.65 a week, which is the cheapest way to protect a qualifying year towards the State Pension. Class 4 is the charge that remains: 6% of profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% above.
What does it cost to fill a gap in my National Insurance record?
Class 3 voluntary contributions cost £18.40 a week in 2026/27, so £956.80 for a full year. Class 2, where you are eligible for it as a self-employed person with low profits, costs £3.65 a week or £189.80 a year for the same qualifying year - which is why eligibility for Class 2 matters far more than the difference looks. Check your record before buying anything: some gap years cannot be filled, and some are already covered by NI credits you did not know you had.
Do I stop paying National Insurance at State Pension age?
Employee Class 1 stops as soon as you reach State Pension age, even mid-year - so in the year you reach it you owe Class 1 on earnings up to that point and nothing after. Class 4 works differently: gov.uk says "you stop paying Class 4 National Insurance from 6 April (start of the tax year) after you reach State Pension age", so a self-employed person still owes Class 4 for the whole of the year in which they reach it. Your employer keeps paying employer NI on your wages either way - that liability does not stop. The calculator models a full year either side of the line rather than a part-year: tick the box and it treats you as over State Pension age for the whole year, which is right for every year after the one you reach it in.
Can I earn a qualifying year without paying any National Insurance?
Yes, and it is a deliberate feature rather than a loophole. Earnings at or above the Lower Earnings Limit - £6,708 a year, £129 a week in 2026/27 - credit a qualifying year towards the State Pension, but nothing is payable until the Primary Threshold at £12,570. Everything you earn in that band counts for your record and costs you nothing. It is the reason a modestly paid part-time job is still worth having on your NI record.
How much employer National Insurance will a hire cost?
15% of everything above the £5,000 Secondary Threshold in 2026/27. On a £35,000 salary that is £4,500 on top of the wage. Eligible employers can set the Employment Allowance - £10,500 - against that bill, but a company whose only employee is a single director cannot claim it. Employees under 21, apprentices under 25, veterans in their first civilian year and eligible Freeport or Investment Zone employees carry a category letter with 0% employer NI up to an Upper Secondary Threshold; pick the letter in the calculator and the employer figure follows it.