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If you work in the UK, you will usually have to pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your wages. How much you pay - and how you pay - depends on how much you earn, and whether you work for someone (employed), or for yourself (self-employed).
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You usually pay Income Tax on your wages. You can earn some money each year without paying any Income Tax. This tax-free amount is called the ‘Personal Allowance’. You pay Income Tax on anything over this. The more you earn, the higher the amount of Income Tax you pay.
National Insurance pays for some benefits and the State Pension.
If you are employed you will pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions if you earn above a certain amount.
If you are self-employed, you will pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a flat weekly amount and you will also pay Class 4 National Insurance contributions as a percentage of your taxable profits.
You can find out more about Income Tax and National Insurance by following the links below.
Income tax - find out more from the Directgov website
National Insurance - find out more from the Directgov website
More about the Personal Allowance on the Directgov website
See the current Income Tax rates
To work in the UK you need a National Insurance number.
You must apply for one:
To be able to apply you must be:
To apply for a National Insurance number phone the Jobcentre Plus National Insurance number allocation service on Tel 0845 600 0643. Lines are open from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday.
If you are already working but don’t have a National Insurance number, you must get one.
You can find out more about National Insurance, and how to get a National Insurance number, by following the link below.
National Insurance - learn more at the Directgov website
If you work for someone, you are ‘employed’. The person you work for is your ‘employer’. Your employer takes tax and National Insurance from your wages and pays it to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Tax when you work for someone - find out more
If you work for yourself you are ‘self-employed’. You have to register as self-employed and pay HMRC your tax and National Insurance yourself each year.
Tax when you work for yourself - find out more
If you want to work in the construction industry and you are not ‘employed’, you’ll need to register for the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
