National Insurance Calculator, 2026/27
Directors comparing salary levels need to see both sides of the National Insurance bill, what comes off the payslip and what the company pays separately. Enter a salary and this calculator shows employee NIC, employer NIC and the combined total.
The national insurance calculator runs on the rates and thresholds HMRC has published for the 2026/27 tax year, so the figures you see reflect the position your company is actually filing on rather than a historic set of bands. Change any input and the result recalculates immediately, with no sign-up and nothing sent anywhere.
If you are a director of a UK limited company, use it as a first look before a decision rather than as the decision itself. Uses 2026/27 thresholds: employee NIC at 8%/2% above £12,570, employer NIC at 15% above £5,000. Real company positions bring in other income, reliefs, group structures and prior year adjustments that a single page of inputs cannot see, which is why the workings are written out below under payroll, paye & employment. Read those, then check the numbers against your own accounts, and speak to us if anything looks materially different from what you expected.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Waqas Sagar, Member of ICAEW, Fellow of ACCA, Fellow of AAT.
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Result, 2026/27
Total NIC (employee + employer, after allowance)
Employee NIC (deducted from salary)
Employer NIC (after any allowance)
Total cost of employment to the company
Illustration only, figures are based on the rates you have selected and the information entered. Please check your own position with us before acting.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year using published GOV.UK rates. Switch between 2026/27 and 2025/26 above.
How this is calculated
Employee NIC is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. Employer NIC is charged separately at 15% on earnings above £5,000, with no upper limit, and is never deducted from the employee.
The employment allowance, where the employer qualifies, offsets up to £10,500 of employer NIC across the whole payroll, so this calculator applies it against the employer NIC figure for the salary entered, capped at the total employer NIC due.
Adding employee NIC, employer NIC after any allowance, and gross salary together gives the true total cost of that role to the company, a figure that is often materially higher than the headline salary alone.
Why two NIC charges exist
National Insurance is collected in two parts because it funds both an individual's entitlement to contributory benefits, primarily the state pension, and a general contribution from employers towards the wider system. Employee NIC and employer NIC use different thresholds and different rates entirely, so they should not be added together casually without checking each threshold applies correctly.
For company directors, NIC can be assessed on either an annual cumulative basis, which this calculator broadly follows, or a period-by-period alternative method, both of which arrive at the same annual total NIC by the end of the tax year.
Using this to compare salary options
When deciding between paying yourself more salary or more dividends, the combined NIC cost, employee and employer together, is one of the key figures to weigh against dividend tax and corporation tax treatment, since salary above the secondary threshold carries an employer NIC cost that dividends do not.
This calculator is a useful first check before a fuller salary versus dividend comparison, since it isolates the NIC element of the decision from income tax and dividend tax considerations.
What this means for your company
Treat the result as a planning figure for the 2026/27 tax year. If it changes what you were about to do, take a director's salary, a dividend, a large asset purchase or a filing decision, check it against your own accounts first. We can review the position with you and confirm the tax treatment before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between employee and employer NIC?
Employee NIC is deducted from the employee's gross pay and reduces their take-home pay. Employer NIC is an additional cost paid entirely by the employer on top of the salary and never appears as a deduction on the payslip.
Is there an upper limit on employer NIC?
No. Unlike employee NIC, which drops to 2% above the upper earnings limit, employer NIC continues at 15% on all earnings above the secondary threshold with no cap.
How does the employment allowance affect this calculation?
It reduces the employer NIC portion of the bill, up to the annual cap, for employers who qualify. It has no effect on employee NIC, which is unaffected by the allowance.
Why does total NIC cost matter for salary decisions?
Because the true cost of employing someone, or paying yourself a salary through your company, includes employer NIC on top of gross pay, which changes the comparison against alternatives such as dividends.
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