Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

National Insurance Contributions definition

What does National Insurance Contributions mean? National Insurance contributions (NICs) are payments made by employees, employers and the self-employed to HMRC—or credited—so individuals build entitlement to the UK State Pension and other contributory social security benefits. NICs are a statutory concept defined primarily in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (and the Northern Ireland 1992 Act) and related regulations. NICs are distinct from income tax but are usually calculated and reported via PAYE or self assessment. Amounts collected are paid into the National Insurance fund (Great Britain) or the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund and finance the new State Pension, contributory Employment and Support...

UK tax and NICs on termination payments: earnings, £30,000 exemption, PILONs, redundancy, TUPE, settlement agreements and cross-border issues

Published by a LexisNexis Tax expert

Practice notes

As this Practice Note outlines, termination payments come in numerous forms, and the first task at the outset is to determine whether the particular payment is chargeable as earnings under section 62 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003), or instead falls within alternative charging provisions in ITEPA 2003, before assessing if the £30,000 exemption in ITEPA 2003, s 403, can apply to that payment in the circumstances.

In everyday understanding, 'tax' typically embraces national insurance contributions (NICs), because NICs reduce disposable funds much like conventional taxation.

Accordingly, the NICs consequences must be weighed when judging the financial efficiency of any such payment. However, as NICs are governed by their own statutory regime, which does not mirror the tax code, their treatment should always be addressed separately when reviewing a termination payment. This separation ensures clarity and helps prevent assumptions based on income tax rules being carried across to NICs without sufficiently careful examination.

What does termination include?...

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Sam Whitaker

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Sam is an International Counsel in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He provides the full range of employment and benefits advice on transactions and stand-alone employment matters. He has substantial experience of advising on the employment and benefits aspects of various transactions, including UK listings, share and asset acquisitions and disposals (both UK-based and multi-jurisdictional transactions), joint ventures and other transactions. He provides the full range of stand-alone employment advice including the implementation of employment and benefit arrangements for senior executives, implementing executive severance arrangements, managing UK and international redundancy exercises and related consultation requirements, the establishment of share incentive and bonus plans, employment litigation involving restrictive covenants, unfair and wrongful dismissal and discrimination issues. He also advises on compliance with regulatory requirements on remuneration, in particular the FCA/PRA’s Remuneration Codes and, at a European level, CRDV....

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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