National Insurance
National Insurance
National Insurance
What is National Insurance?
National Insurance is a social insurance scheme, under which people become eligible for particular social security benefits - known as &contributory benefits& - through a history of contributions to the scheme made by themselves and by their employers.
Like Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are deducted at source from people's earnings. They are then paid into the National Insurance Fund, a proportion of which is allocated to the National Health Service, with the rest funding contributory benefits.
There are four different &Classes& of NIC, applicable to different types of person. Class 1 contributions are the basic employees' (primary) and employers' (secondary) contributions, which are deducted from employees' gross pay by employers. Class 2 and Class 4 contributions are paid by self-employed people whose profits have reached a certain amount, and they are paid as a fixed weekly amount and annually as part of the Self-Assessment process, respectively. Class 3 contributions are paid voluntarily, to fill gaps in one's contributions record.
Contribution liabilities are calculated on the basis of weekly earnings. For 2011-12, the &Lower Earnings Limit& for primary Class 1 NICs is &139 per week, while the &Upper Earnings Limit& is &817 per week. In practice, this means that 12 per cent of weekly earnings of between &139 per week and &817 is deducted. Weekly earnings in excess of &817 are subject to an extra 2 per cent deduction.
Paying National Insurance contributions can build up an entitlement to certain state benefits with different types of contribution counting towards different types of benefit. Some benefits, however, are not linked to NI contributions.
State benefits which are linked to NI contributions are known as 'contributory benefits'. These include the basic State Pension, the additional (Second) State Pension, contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance, contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Maternity Allowance, and bereavement benefits.
On reaching age 16, every person is issued with a National Insurance Number (NINO), which identifies his or her contributions record throughout from that point on.
Background
The introduction of National Insurance under the National Insurance Act 1911 was one of the first steps towards the creation of the welfare state.
It was first proposed in the 1908 &People's Budget& of David Lloyd George, along with a dramatic expansion of the scope of Income Tax and plans for a system of old age pensions (which would be funded at this time by general taxation).
The scheme, which came into effect in July 1912, was intended to create a national system of insurance for working people against illness and unemployment. All wage-earners aged between 16 and 70 were obliged to contribute 4d per week, while employers paid 3d and the state 2d. In return, workers were entitled to a level of free medical care and advice, and a &dole& of 7 shillings per week for up to 15 weeks per year in the event of unemployment.
In its early days, the scheme was administered by &approved societies&, voluntary friendly societies authorised and underwritten by the Government, and regulated by four Insurance Commissions. The powers of the Insurance Commissions were assumed by the new Ministry of Health (and the Welsh and Scottish Boards for Health) in 1919. In 1925, the Ministry of Health was charged with the administration of contributory pensions under the Old Age, Widows' and Orphans' Contributory Pensions Act 1925, which replaced the older system.
The system was &nationalised& in 1945, with the creation of the Ministry for National Insurance, and the work of approved societies was taken over by &local executive councils& in 1948. The National Insurance Act 1948 and National Assistance Act 1948 established the modern welfare state that persists today.
The post-war National Insurance reforms were based on the Beveridge Report, produced in 1942 by William Beveridge. It built upon Lloyd George's scheme, proposing a system of &social security& in return for contributions in order to provide a minimum level of income for all.
Throughout its history then, the contributory principle has underpinned National Insurance. Concerns, however, have been voiced in recent years about the undermining of this principle.
Today, National Insurance is administered by the Inland Revenue through the National Insurance Fund. This was established in its current form by the Social Security Act 1975, which merged the National Insurance and Industrial Injuries Funds and the National Insurance (Reserve) Fund. In 1989, the Redundancy Fund was incorporated into the Fund.
Up until 1990, shortfalls in the Fund had been met by a central government grant. Rising contribution levels during the economic boom of the 1980s, however, led the Government to abolish this that year. The recession that followed led to its reintroduction in 1993. In 1999, the Fund was transferred from the Department of Social Security to the Inland Revenue.
Controversies
In the course of National Insurance's history, the link between individual National Insurance contributions and the benefits received has eroded. The introduction of deduction at source for NICs in 1945 along with the Pay As You Earn collection system for Income Tax blurred the distinction between the two from the start. Indeed, today, many regard National Insurance simply as an alternative form of income tax.
This blurring accelerated under the previous Government. In 2001, the Climate Change Levy was introduced as a tax on energy use: it was intended to be &revenue neutral& for businesses, so the Treasury reduced the rate of employers' NICs by 0.3 per cent - a move arguably inconsistent with the idea of National Insurance as contributory.
Moreover, ahead of the 2001 general election, it was widely reported that the Chancellor was planning to raise National Insurance contribution rates shortly after the election, in preference to raising Income Tax in order to fund increased NHS spending.
The Government went into the June 2001 election ambiguous on the matter, but in the Budget of April 2002, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that the rate of NICs would rise by 1p in the pound from April 2003. This would also apply to earnings above the Upper Earnings Limit, which was previously an absolute cap. The balance of the National Insurance Fund has also been used to cover shortfalls in other expenditures, it has been alleged.
Increases in NICs are particularly controversial for business, insofar as they increase costs for employers, and not just employees as increases in Income Tax do. As such, increasing NICs can have an impact on unemployment, as the cost renders employers unwilling to take on new staff. April 2002's announcement was also opposed by many in the business community as making it harder for them to maintain their already-struggling pension schemes.
The increasing of means-testing for eligibility for benefits has also undermined the principle that contributions entitled a contributor to those benefits, other conditions notwithstanding. At the same time, the diminution of the importance of the Basic State Pension in respect of other retirement benefits has led some to call for the replacement of National Insurance with an explicitly tax-based alternative.
Recent Developments
In the 2011 Budget, plans were announced for a consultation to be held on the possibility of integrating the operation of income tax and National Insurance contributions.
The Government issued a 'call for evidence' in July 2011 which aimed to &build a strong evidence base on the burdens to employers of having to operate two different systems.& This preliminary stage of consultation closed in September 2011 and the Government subsequently issued a paper setting out the next steps in the consultation process.
A number of technical working groups with stakeholders are being established &to identify and explore options for reform.& According to the Government, the priority will be to include a range of employers, including small businesses, to ensure that their perspectives are fully represented.
An update on progress is expected to be provided in the 2012 Budget, together with a timetable for further consultation on any proposed options.
Statistics
National Insurance Rates for the 2011-12 tax year:
Employee - Class 1 National Insurance contributions:
12 per cent of the amount earned between &139 and &817 per week.
An extra 2 per cent is paid on earnings in excess of &817 per week.
A lower rate is paid by members of an employer's contracted-out pension scheme.
Self-employed - Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance contributions.
Class 2 NI contributions are paid at a flat rate of &2.50 per week.
Class 4 NI contributions are paid as a percentage of annual taxable profits - 9 per cent on profits between &7,225 and &42,475, and a further 2 per cent on profits over that amount.
Voluntary contributions - Class 3 National Insurance contributions
Paid at a flat rate of &12.60 per week.
Source: HM Revenue and Customs & 2011
&This is a challenging issue, and has been looked at, but not pursued, several times by previous governments. However, the Government strongly believes it is worth looking at again. There is scope to explore the issues in partnership with external stakeholders in more depth than previous work.
&We do so with the following objectives: reducing burdens on employers, removing economic distortions and improving transparency, achieving fairer outcomes for individuals, and cutting government&s administrative costs.&
HM Treasury: 'Integrating the operation of income tax and National Insurance contributions: next steps' & November 2011
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In the , National Insurance (NI) is a system of taxes paid by workers and employers, used primarily to fund state benefits. It was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits. It was first introduced by the
and expanded by the
in 1948, and has been subject to numerous amendments in subsequent years.
The contributions component of the system, "National Insurance Contributions" (NICs), is paid by employees and employers on earnings, and by employers on certain benefits-in-kind provided to employees. The self-employed contribute partly by a fixed weekly or monthly payment, and partly on a percentage of net profits above a certain threshold. Individuals may also make voluntary contributions, in order to fill a gap in their contributions record and thus protect their entitlement to benefits. Contributions from those in employment are collected by
(HMRC) through the
system, along with
and repayments of .
The benefit component comprises a number of contributory benefits of availability and amount determined by the claimant's contribution record and circumstances. Weekly income benefits and some lump-sum benefits to participants upon death, retirement, unemployment, maternity and disability are provided.
Recent developments of the system have meant that National Insurance provides a significant part of the government's revenue (21.5% of the total collected by HMRC.) National Insurance has also become more redistributive over time as its structure has changed to remove the fixed upper contribution limits, albeit with a much lower rate payable by employees on income above a certain level. It has been discussed that the link between an individual's contribution record and the remaining contributory benefits will be weakened further.
Main article:
The Government Actuary estimates the 2012-13 results for the National Insurance Fund to be as follows:
? billions (2012/13)
(including )
Unemployment benefit & support
Maternity allowance &
Administrative costs & transfers
A 1940 contribution card for an employed woman.
The current system of National Insurance has its roots in the , which introduced the concept of benefits based on contributions paid by employed persons and their employer. The chosen means of recording the contributions required the employer to buy special stamps from a Post Office and affix them to contribution cards. The cards formed proof of entitlement to benefits and were given to the employee when the employment ended, leading to the loss of a job often being referred to as being given your cards, a phrase which endures to this day although the card itself no longer exists.
Initially there were two schemes running alongside each other, one for health and pension insurance benefits (administered by "approved societies" including friendly societies and some trade unions) and the other for unemployment benefit which was administered directly by Government. The
in 1942 proposed expansion and unification of the welfare state under a scheme of what was called social insurance. In March 1943
in a broadcast entitled "After the War" committed the government to a system of "national compulsory insurance for all classes for all purposes from the cradle to the grave."
After the Second World War, the Attlee government pressed ahead with the introduction of the , of which an expanded National Insurance scheme was a major component. As part of this process, responsibility passed in 1948 to the new Ministry of National Insurance. At that point, a single stamp was introduced which covered all the benefits of the new Welfare State.
Stamp cards for class 1 (employed) contributions persisted until 1975 when these contributions finally ceased to be flat-rate and became earnings related, collected along with Income Tax under the PAYE procedures. Making NI contributions is often described by people as paying their stamp.
As the system developed, the link between individual contributions and benefits was weakened.
are used to pay for certain types of welfare expenditure and National Insurance payments cannot be used directly to fund general government spending. However, any surplus in the funds is invested in government securities, and so is effectively lent to the government at low rates of interest. National Insurance contributions are paid into the various National Insurance Funds after deduction of monies specifically allocated to the
(NHS). However a small percentage is transferred from the funds to the NHS from certain of the smaller sub-classes. Thus the four NHS organisations are partially funded from NI contributions but not from the NI Fund. Less than half of benefit expenditure (42.1%) now goes on contributory benefits, compared with over 65% in 1978–79 because of the growth of means-tested benefits since the late 1970s.
Main article:
A British 1948 National Insurance stamp, once used to collect contributions to the scheme.
National insurance contributions (NICs) fall into a number of classes. Class 1, 2 and 3 NICs paid are credited to an individual's NI account, which determines eligibility for certain benefits - including the state pension. Class 1A, 1B and 4 NIC do not count towards benefit entitlements but must still be paid if due.
Class 1 contributions are paid by employers and their employees. In law, the employee contribution is referred to as the 'primary' contribution and the employer contribution as the 'secondary', but they are usually referred to simply as employee and employer contributions.
The employee contribution is deducted from gross wages by the employer, with no action required by the employee. The employer then adds in their own contribution and remits the total to
along with income tax.
There are a number of milestone figures which determine the rate of NICs to be paid: Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), Primary Threshold (PT), Secondary Threshold (ST), Upper Accrual Point (UAP) and Upper Earnings Limit (UEL). In this context "earnings" refers to an employee's wage or salary. The cash value of most of these figures normally changes each year, either in line with inflation or by some other amount decided by the . With effect from the 2012/13 tax year the PT is normally indexed to inflation using the , while other thresholds remain indexed using the . The exception to this routine uprating is the UAP, which has a fixed value.
On earnings below the LEL, no NICs are paid because no benefits can accrue on earnings below this limit.
On earnings above the LEL, up to and including the PT, employee contributions are not paid but are credited by the government as if they were (enabling certain low-paid workers to qualify for benefits). Additionally, where the employee and/or employer contribute to certain types of occupational pension scheme, there is a negative contribution rate on earnings in this band - this 'rebate' can be offset against contributions in other earnings bands.
On earnings above the LEL, up to and including the ST, employer contributions are not paid. As with the previous band, a 'rebate' may result from contributions to certain occupational pension schemes.
On earnings above the PT (employees) / ST (employers), up to and including the UAP, NICs are collected at a rate which is determined by a number of factors:
The type of occupational pension scheme (if any) to which the employee and/or employer make contributions
Whether the employee has reached the age at which
becomes payable
Whether the employee is a married woman paying reduced-rate contributions. This facility was abolished on 11 May 1977 but women who were already paying these contributions at that time were allowed to opt to continue to do so for as long as they remained married and in employment
Whether the employee is an ocean-going mariner or deep-sea fisherman
On earnings above the UAP, up to and including the UEL, there are again various rates depending on similar factors to those relating to the previous earnings band, with the exception that the type of pension scheme no longer has a bearing.
On earnings above the UEL, yet another set of rates apply, this time depending only on whether the employee has reached the age at which State Pension becomes payable or is an ocean-going mariner or deep-sea fisherman
Unlike income tax the limits for class 1 NICs for ordinary employees are calculated on a periodic basis, usually weekly or monthly depending on how the employee is paid. However those for company directors are always calculated on an annual basis, to ensure that the correct level of NICs are collected regardless of how often the director chooses to be paid.
As indicated above, the rates at which an individual and their employer pay contributions depend on a number of factors. Consequently, there are many possible sets of employer/employee contribution rates to allow for all combinations of the various factors. HMRC allocate a letter of the alphabet, referred to as an 'NI Table Letter', to each of these sets of contribution rates. The complexity of the system is such that 21 of the 26 letters of the alphabet were in use for this purpose until the 2012/13 tax year, when the number reduced to 15 following the abolition of 'contracting out' for defined contribution pension schemes. Each tax year, HMRC publish look-up tables for each table letter to assist with manual calculation of contributions, though these days most of the calculations are done by computer systems and the tables are available only as downloads from the HMRC website. In addition, HMRC provide an online National Insurance Calculator.
Employers are responsible for allocating the correct table letter (sometimes also referred to as an 'NI category') to each employee depending on their particular circumstances. This then defines the rates of employee and employer contribution which apply.
From 6 April 2014, there is an annual allowance of ?2,000 known as the employer's allowance which may be deducted from employer's national insurance. This increases to ?3,000 from 6 April 2016 but is denied to sole directors of owner-managed companies.
From 6 April 2015, employers do not pay employer's national insurance for employees under the age of 21.
From 6 April 2016, employers do not pay employer's national insurance for apprentices under the age of 25.
Class 1A contributions were introduced from 6 April 1991, and are paid by employers on the value of company cars and certain other
provided to their employees and directors, at a rate (tax year 2012-13) of 13.8% of the value of the benefits in kind (from their ). Class 1A contributions do not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals.
Class 1B were introduced on 6 April 1999 and are payable whenever an employer enters into a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) for tax. Class 1B NICs are payable only by employers and payment does not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals. They are paid at the same rate as class 1A contributions.
Class 2 contributions are fixed weekly amounts paid by the self-employed. They are due regardless of trading profits or losses, but those with low earnings can apply for exemption from paying and those on high earnings with liability to either Class 1 or 4 can apply for deferment from paying. While the amount is calculated to a weekly figure, they were typically paid monthly or quarterly until 2015. For future years, class 2 is collected as part of the tax self-assessment process. For the most part, unlike Class 1, they do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for contributions-based , but do count towards . The government has announced plans to phase out class 2 before 2020. The contributory element will pass to class 4.
Class 3 contributions are voluntary NICs paid by people wishing to fill a gap in their contributions record which has arisen either by not working or by their earnings being too low. Class 3 contributions only count towards
entitlement. The main reason for paying Class 3 NICs is to ensure that a person's contribution record is preserved to provide entitlement to these benefits, though care needs to be taken not to pay unnecessarily as it is not necessary to have contributions in every year of a working life in order to qualify.
Class 3A is a single voluntary contribution that may be made by someone who has reached the state retirement age before 6 April 2016. It allows such a contributor to make a single payment that will increase their state pension for the rest of their life. The rates vary according to age. For a person aged 65, the contribution is ?890 to earn an extra ?1 a week. This reduces to ?127 for someone aged 100. The maximum amount of additional pension that can be bought is ?25 a week. The contributions must be bought between 12 October 2015 and 5 April 2017.
Class 4 contributions are paid by self-employed people as a portion of their profits. The amount due is calculated with income tax at the end of the year, based on figures supplied on the SA100 .
Contributions are based around two thresholds, the Lower Profits Limit (LPL) and the Upper Profits Limit (UPL). These have the same cash values as the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit used in Class 1 calculations.
No class 4 NICs are due on profits up to and including the LPL.
Above the LPL, up to and including the UPL, class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 9% (tax year 2011-12).
Above the UPL, class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 2%.
Class 4 contributions do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for any benefits, including the State Pension, as self-employed people qualify for these benefits by paying Class 2 contributions.
People who are unable to work for some reason may be able to claim NIC credits (technically credited earnings, since 1987). These are equivalent to Class 1 NICs, though are not paid for. They are granted either to maintain a contributions record while not working, or to those applying for benefits whose contribution record is only slightly short of the requirements for those benefits. In the latter case, they are unavailable to fill "gaps" in past years in contribution records for some benefits.
evaluation of the long-term prospects for the National Insurance system is mandated every 5 years, or whenever any changes are proposed to benefits or contributions. Such evaluations are conducted by the
and the resulting reports must be presented to the UK Parliament.
Main article:
In order to administer the National Insurance system, a National Insurance number is allocated to every child in the United Kingdom shortly before his or her 16th birthday. A number is also given to younger children for whom Child Benefit is paid. People coming from overseas have to apply for a NI number before they can qualify for benefits, though holding a NI number is not a prerequisite for working in the UK.
An NI number is in the format: two letters, six digits, and one further letter or a space. The example used is typically AB123456C. It is usual to pair off the digits - such separators are seen on forms used by government departments (both internal and external, notably the
National Insurance contributions for all UK residents and some non-residents are recorded using the NPS computer system (National Insurance and
Service). This came into use in June and July 2009 and brought NIC and Income Tax records together onto a single system for the first time.
The original National Insurance Recording System (NIRS) was a more archaic system first used in 1975 without direct user access to its records. A civil servant working within the
(NICO) would have to request paper printouts of an individual's account which could take up to two weeks to arrive. New information to be added to the account would be sent to specialised data entry operatives on paper to be input into NIRS.
NIRS/2, introduced in 1996, was a large and complex computer system which comprised several applications. These included individual applications to access or update an individual National Insurance account, to view employer's National Insurance schemes and a general work management application. There was some controversy regarding the NIRS/2 system from its inception when problems with the new system attracted widespread media coverage. Due to these computer problems Deficiency Notices (telling individuals of a possible shortfall in their contributions), which had been sent out on an annual basis prior to 1996, stopped being issued. The (then)
took several years to clear the backlog.
The history of the rates charged is not easy to find, but there is a partial history at . As mentioned above, the employee contribution was a flat rate stamp until 1975.
1975 - 1976 the contribution was at 5.50% up to the upper limit.
1976 - 1978 the contribution was at 5.75% up to the upper limit.
1978 - 1979 the contribution was at 6.50% up to the upper limit.
1979 - 1980 the contribution was at 6.75% up to the upper limit.
1980 - 1981 the contribution was at 7.75% up to the upper limit.
1981 - 1982 the contribution was at 8.75% up to the upper limit.
1982 - 1989 the contribution was at 9.00% up to the upper limit.
1989 - 1994 the contribution was at 2.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 9.00% up to the upper limit.
1995 - 1999 the contribution was at 2.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 10.00% up to the upper limit.
1999 - 2003 the contribution was at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 10.00% up to the upper limit.
2003 - 2011 the contribution was at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 11.00% up to the upper limit and 1% on earnings over the upper limit.
2011 - the contribution is at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 12.00% up to the upper limit and 2% on earnings over the upper limit.
The upper limit is currently set at the figure at which the higher rate of Income Tax becomes chargeable for a person on the standard personal allowance for Income Tax. In the early 2000s the lower threshold for employee contributions was aligned with the standard personal allowance for Income Tax but has since diverged significantly, as illustrated in the following table.
NI Employee Threshold
Income Tax Allowance
Charge to NI only
For 2015-16 there was therefore up to ?304.80 payable by someone who has not reached the point where they are liable for Income Tax. This rose to ? 352.80 for 2016-17 and to ? 400.32 for 2017-18
The limits and rates for the following tax year are normally announced at the same time as the Autumn Statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Current rates are shown on the hmrc.gov.uk website.
There is a further complexity in as much as the calculation for employees has to be made on each pay period (for non directors of a company) - so a weekly paid employee will face a charge in any week where earnings exceed one fifty-second of the annual limit. It is therefore possible for a charge to Employees NI to arise on someone who earns below the limit on an annual basis but who has occasional payments above the weekly limit.
A further complication is that you have an allowance per employer, unlike Income Tax where the allowance is split between employers via the person's tax code.
A collection of British national insurance stamps in the
The Committee Office, House of Commons. . Publications.parliament.uk 2010.
(PDF). hmrc.gov.uk 2011.
Government Actuary's Department, 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
. nationalarchives.gov.uk 2011.
Kynaston, David (2007). A World to Build. London: Bloomsbury. p. 24.  .
Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. . Publications.parliament.uk 2010.
. Opsi.gov.uk. 6 April .
Seeley, Anthony (10 June 2014).
(PDF). House of Commons Library 2014.
HM Treasury.
(PDF) 2011.
HMRC NI calculator
HM Revenue & Customs. . HM Revenue & Customs 2011.
. Cabinetoffice.gov.uk 2010.
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