Do I pay National Insurance after reaching State Pension age?

Full answer

National Insurance is only payable on earnings up to State Pension age, currently 66 for both men and women in the UK, regardless of whether you continue working beyond that age. If you keep working as an employee past State Pension age, your employer must stop deducting Class 1 employee National Insurance from your salary once you reach the qualifying age -- you should provide your employer with evidence, such as your birth certificate or passport, and in some cases HMRC issues a certificate (form CA4140) confirming your exemption, though many payroll systems now automatically stop the deduction once your date of birth confirms you have passed State Pension age. The same applies to self-employed people: Class 4 National Insurance stops being due on profits earned from the start of the tax year in which you reach State Pension age, though if you were liable for Class 4 NI earlier in that same tax year (before your birthday), that portion may still be due, so the exact treatment depends on timing. Crucially, stopping National Insurance does not mean you stop paying Income Tax -- you continue to pay Income Tax on earnings, pension income and other taxable income exactly as before, using the same Personal Allowance and tax bands, since Income Tax and National Insurance are entirely separate systems with different rules about age. This distinction catches some people by surprise: their payslip changes noticeably once National Insurance stops being deducted, but their overall Income Tax liability is unaffected by reaching State Pension age.

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