National insurance contributions

2012/13
Class 1 (not contracted out)	Employer	Employee
Lower earnings limit		£107
Payable on weekly earnings
£144.01 - £146	13.8%	Nil
£146.01 - £817	13.8%	12%
Over £817	13.8%	2%
Payable on monthly earnings
£624 - £634	13.8%	Nil
£634 - £3,540	13.8%	12%
Over £3,540	13.8%	2%
Men 65 and over and women from the date they qualify for state pension	13.8%	Nil
Employees' contracted-out rebate	1.4%
Married women's reduced rate between £144 and £817	5.85%
Employers' contracted-out rebate, salary-related schemes	3.4%
Employers' contracted-out rebate, money purchase schemes	Abolished from 6 April 2012

Class 1A (on relevant benefits)	13.8%	Nil

Class 1B (on PAYE settlement arrangement)	13.8%

Class 2 (self employed)	£2.65 per week
Class 2 contributions - share fishermen	£3.30 per week
Class 2 contributions - volunteer development workers	£5.35 per week
Limit of net earnings for exception	£5,595 per annum
Contributions cease at state retirement age
Class 3 (voluntary)	£13.25 per week

Class 4* (Self employed on profits)
£7,605 to £42,475	9%
Excess over £42,475	2%
*Exemption applies if state retirement age was reached by 6 April 2012.

Maximum contributions
Class 1	£4,267.56 + 2% of earnings over £42,475 pa.
Class 2 and Class 4	£3,278.75 + 2% of profits over £42,475 pa.

Notes

For those earning between £144 per week and £817 per week, employers receive a rebate of 3.4% on contracted out final salary schemes, and employees, a rebate of 1.4%. The rebate for money purchase schemes is abolished from 6 April 2012.
For children under 16, and employees over state pension age there are no national insurance contributions payable, but employers' contributions remain payable.

Did you know?

That the Treasury is expecting to raise £105.6 billion (2011/12 £102 billion) from national insurance contributions. In the current year this represents almost 80 per cent of the receipts from PAYE.