National Insurance Contribution and NMW Rates 2026

In 2026 Spring Statement, the government confirmed that the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) framework will remain broadly stable into the 2026/27 tax year, with key thresholds frozen and rates largely unchanged, providing a degree of certainty for both employers and individuals. 

Alongside this, updated National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates, effective from April 2026, signal a continued focus on supporting lower-paid workers, while targeted reliefs, including those for businesses employing veterans, remain in place. Together, these measures reflect a balancing act between maintaining predictability for business planning and responding to ongoing cost-of-living pressures across the workforce.

National Insurance Contributions

NIC bands

The NICs Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit remain at £12,570. The NICs Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit will remain aligned to the higher rate threshold at £50,270 up to April 2031. Other employer NICs relief thresholds aligned to the Upper Earnings Limit will also be maintained at this level.

Employees and employers

For 2026/27 the rates of Class 1 employee NICs are 8% and 2%. The employer rate is 15%.

The Secondary Threshold is the point at which employers become liable to pay NICs on an individual employee’s earnings and is currently set at £5,000 a year for 2026/27. The government has announced that this will be maintained at this level until April 2031.

The Employment Allowance allows eligible businesses with employer NICs bills to deduct £10,500 from their employer NICs bill.

The self-employed and NICs

For 2026/27 the rates of Class 4 self-employed NICs are 6% and 2%.

For Class 2 NICs from 6 April 2026:

• Self-employed people with profits of £7,105 and above get access to contributory benefits, including the State Pension, through a National Insurance Credit, without paying Class 2 NICs.
• Those with profits under £7,105 may pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily to get access to contributory benefits, including the State Pension. The rate of Class 2 contributions will be £3.65 per week. 

Employer NICs relief for veterans

The government will extend the employer NICs relief for employers hiring qualifying veterans to April 2028. This means that businesses continue to pay no employer NICs up to annual earnings of the Veterans Upper Secondary Threshold of £50,270 for the first year of a veteran’s employment in a civilian role.

National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage

The government has announced increased rates of the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) which will come into force from 1 April 2026.

The rates which will apply are as follows:

The apprenticeship rate applies to apprentices under 19 or 19 and over in the first year of apprenticeship. The NLW applies to those aged 21 and over.

Next steps

You can find more information about the recent Spring Statement here: Spring Statement Summary 

As always, these articles provide an overview of the various measures available, and no action should be taken without seeking professional advice.  At Ritchie Phillips, we pride ourselves on providing clear, pragmatic advice to help businesses, individuals and families. If you’d like to discuss any of the above, please get in touch.