National Insurance,
without the fog.

01 · Employee rates

You pay 8%, then 2%

For most employees in 2026/27, no employee National Insurance is charged up to £12,570 a year. The slice from £12,570 to £50,270 is charged at 8%, and the slice above £50,270 at 2%.

02 · Examples

What that means at three salaries

These are annualised Category A estimates with no pension salary sacrifice. Payroll works by pay period, so individual payslips can differ slightly.

03 · Category letters

Category A is common, but not universal

Your National Insurance category appears on your payslip. Category A covers many employees, while different rules can apply for some married women and widows with a valid election, people deferring contributions, employees under 21, apprentices under 25, veterans and employees over State Pension age.

Actual Salary currently models employee Category A. If your payslip shows another category, treat the National Insurance figure as a broad estimate.

04 · Salary sacrifice

Some pension arrangements reduce NI-able pay

With pension salary sacrifice, you agree to lower cash salary and your employer contributes the exchanged amount to your pension. Under current 2026/27 rules this can reduce employee National Insurance as well as Income Tax. A net-pay pension normally reduces Income Tax but not National Insurance.