Calculator · Hiring
Employer National Insurance calculator
Work out the secondary Class 1 NI you'll owe HMRC when you hire — for one employee or a small team.
Tax year 2025/26
Calculator answer
Enter your figures to estimate the result for the 2025/26 tax year. The output is a planning estimate only and should be checked against HMRC guidance before filing or paying tax.
Annual employer NI bill
£0
- NI per employee
- £4,500
- Total NI (1 employee)
- £4,500
- Employment Allowance applied
- −£4,500
- Payable to HMRC
- £0
- True cost per employee
- £35,000
How this calculator works
From 6 April 2025, employer NI rose from 13.8% to 15%, and the secondary threshold fell from £9,100 to £5,000. That means most employers pay significantly more per hire than in previous years.
The Employment Allowance wipes out the first £10,500 of an employer NI bill each year — but only if you have more than one employee earning above the threshold, or if you're a sole director paying yourself and at least one other person. A single-director, no-employees Ltd cannot claim it.
Worked example: paying one employee £30,000 costs £30,000 × (1 + roughly 0.13) = around £33,750 in salary + NI, before the allowance. With the allowance, it's just the £30,000 salary.