P60 Employee's contributions — Your National Insurance contributions paid
Total Class 1 National Insurance your employer deducted from your pay — the main employee rate between the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit, with a lower rate above the UEL.
At a glance
- Entry
- Your National Insurance contributions paid
- Feeds to
- Your NI record. Not separately reported on Self Assessment.
- Check against
- Sum of the NI line on every payslip in the tax year.
What this means
This shows how much Class 1 National Insurance your employer deducted from your pay across the tax year. The main employee rate applies on earnings between the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit, with a lower rate above the UEL (see year-notes block for current-year thresholds and rates).
Unlike income tax, NI is assessed per pay period not cumulatively — so a large one-off bonus may push you above the UEL that month and drop you back to the 2% band. It doesn't balance out at year end the way PAYE income tax does.
Implications for your tax
- Feeds your HMRC NI record — needed for State Pension qualifying years and contributory benefits like new-style JSA/ESA.
- If you have gaps in prior years, you can make voluntary Class 3 NICs up to six years back to close them.
- Higher earners above the UEL still pay NI at the lower (above-UEL) rate — there is no cap.
Common pitfalls
- If you had two jobs simultaneously, each employer calculates NI separately from the PT each time — you may have paid too much if combined earnings were large. Claim via CA5403 or CA5601 (annual maximum).
- NI category letters matter: A is standard, but under-21s use M, apprentices use H, state-pension-age employees use C, married women with old reduced-rate election use B.
Related P60 entries
Earnings at the LEL, PT and above — National Insurance earnings bands
Your earnings split across NI thresholds — Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), Primary Threshold (PT), and above. Determines contribution credit for State Pension.
Pay: In this employment — Pay in this employment (current job)
Your total taxable pay in this employment for the tax year (6 April to 5 April). If you started this job mid-year, it covers only what this employer paid you.
Pay: In previous employment(s) — Pay from previous employer(s) this year
Your taxable pay from any earlier employer in the same tax year, as transferred to this employer via your P45 Parts 2 and 3.
Pay: Total for year — Total pay for the tax year
The sum of current and previous employment pay — the headline figure HMRC uses for your annual income tax calculation.
Reconciling your pay? Use the take-home pay calculator to verify PAYE and NI on any salary for 2025/26 or 2026/27, and the tax code checker to decode your final tax code.
Sources
P60 structure per HMRC PAYE forms guidance. Thresholds and rates current for 2025/26 (tax year 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026); 2026/27 figures included where published.