National Insurance

[Katyy]

Hi. I’m working 16 hours a week for minimum wage. I earn £4,500 PA. I’m paying £92 PA NI. Is this correct I thought you had to earn at least £184 per week ?

I don't pay NI and I earn more than you. However, your employer pays NI even if you don't. Could that be what's happening here?

Thank you for replying. Yeah I think this is what’s happening.

Have you checked your payslip to be sure that it's employer's contributions and not coming off your take home pay? It sounds as if your pay is too low for emloyer's NI too www.gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters suggests it needs to be £170 a week for employers to pay.

I would query it with payroll where you work. If they have been taking NI off you then you can claim it back eventually if you've overpaid www.gov.uk/claim-national-insurance-refund but obviously it's best to get it sorted sooner.

16 hours a week on NMW isn’t £4500pa.
Do you work term time only perhaps?

However, even with 16 hours a week x £8.91 x 52 weeks that’s £142.56 a week (no tax) and below the secondary threshold (£170pw) at which employer NI becomes payable.

I can’t get £4500pa from any of the under 23 NMW bands either.

Sorry my mistake it’s £7445 🙄

@Katyy

Sorry my mistake it’s £7445 🙄

Bit different 🤣 So where have you got the £92pa NI from? On a P60? As a total for the year on your last payslip of the 2021/22 tax year?

Iv also paid ni a few of times over the years when Iv done overtime. I thought it was paid if you earnt a certain amount each week and couldn’t be claimed back? Iv come no where near the yearly limit.

I’m wondering if you did overtime one month, which has taken you over threshold and you’ve triggered employer NI that month, and you’ve got the £92 yourself by multiplying it by 12 as an estimate?

Not all payslips are the same, but it’s a standard convention to show your employee NI deduction as “EE NIC” or “EE NI”.

Employer NI is not always shown on a payslip - but is usually called ER. It’s not always shown on a payslip because it doesn’t come off your pay.

What does your payslip say?

@Saladd0dger

Iv also paid ni a few of times over the years when Iv done overtime. I thought it was paid if you earnt a certain amount each week and couldn’t be claimed back? Iv come no where near the yearly limit.

Cross posted about overtime 👍🏻 I’m pretty sure you’re right that NI contributions are calculated just in the relevant week, and not considered across the year like income tax.

If you can explain where you’ve seen the £92 we may be able to help you get to the bottom of it!

Do you mean 14500...

Be nice if we could get a refund lol.

@shabbalabba

Do you mean 14500...

Why would it be £14500? That doesn’t add up. Anyway, OP has corrected her annual earnings.

@Cocomarine I hadn't RTFT so I calculated it as just over 5 an hour which isn't great...

I see that's it's a bit more than that now,..

[quote shabbalabba]@Cocomarine I hadn't RTFT so I calculated it as just over 5 an hour which isn't great...

I see that's it's a bit more than that now,..[/quote]
But the OP said she earns NMW?

@Saladd0dger well on that wage I'm assuming you would claim benefits of some sort so you're getting it back in many ways if so

@Cocomarine and 5.40 is not minimum wage which is my point!

So I thought she was after messing up the numbers...

@Saladd0dger

Be nice if we could get a refund lol.

You can get a refund if there has been an error www.gov.uk/claim-national-insurance-refund I have done this before, though it took ages.

Of course we don't know whether there has been an error here.