UK Employer Rates 2027/28

2027/28 rates: what is confirmed

What we know so far

No 2027/28 rate has been confirmed yet. The first update will follow the Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026.

Already decided before this Budget

Two changes announced at the November 2025 Budget already cover 2027/28:

• Thresholds frozen until April 2031. The income tax personal allowance (£12,570), the higher-rate threshold (£50,270) and the employer NI secondary threshold (£5,000) stay frozen until April 2031. Unless a later Budget reverses that, they are the same in 2027/28 as now.
• Salary sacrifice NI cap from April 2029. From 6 April 2029, pension contributions made through salary sacrifice above £2,000 a year will attract employee and employer NI. Nothing changes in 2027/28. See the pension salary sacrifice calculator for what it means per employee.

Who announces each rate, and when

The 2027/28rates don't all arrive on Budget day. They come from different departments on different timetables, which is why this page fills in over several weeks:

• Employer NI and Employment Allowance:set by HM Treasury at the Budget. HMRC then publishes the full “rates and thresholds for employers” tables for the new tax year.
• National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: recommended by the Low Pay Commission and accepted by the government, usually announced alongside the Budget. New rates start on 1 April, a few days before the tax year.
• SSP, SMP and other statutory pay:set in the Department for Work and Pensions' annual benefit uprating statement, normally published around the Budget, for April.
• Auto-enrolment thresholds: the qualifying earnings band and the £10,000 earnings trigger are reviewed by DWP each year, usually confirmed in the new year rather than on Budget day.

Whatever is announced, the 2026/27 rates stay in force until 5 April 2027 (or 31 March 2027 for the minimum wage). Our calculators keep using them until then, and each calculator page shows the confirmed 2027/28 figures alongside.