In the UK, much attention has been paid to the fact that employees’ national insurance (NI) contributions have increased from April 6 – from 12% to 13.25% for earnings between £9,880 and £50,270 and then from 2% to 3.25% for earnings above that threshold.
It tends to be overlooked, however, that this is only half of the tax rise. Employers also pay NI on their employees’ salaries, and their contribution amounts to about half of what the government generates from this tax overall. The employers’ rate has just increased from 13.8% to 15.05%, which is payable on all wages above £9,100 a year. Unlike the rate paid by workers, there’s no upper band at which the NI contributions reduce.
