We'll release Sage 50 Payroll v31 before the new tax year starts. This update will include the legislation you need to process in the 2025/2026 tax year. The legislation below may be subject to change if HMRC announces any late changes. If any legislation changes we'll update this article, and v31 of your software will include the finalised values. Select any of the options below to find out about that legislation and the values for the 2025/2026 tax year. ▼ National minimum/living wage rates The following rates are effective from 1 April 2025. | Age | Hourly Rate (£) | | 21 and older | 12.21 | | 18 - 20 | 10.00 | | 16 - 17 | 7.55 | | Apprenticeship* | 7.55 | * This rate applies to apprentices aged under 19, or apprentices in their first year of the apprenticeship while age 19 or above. Other apprentices are due the minimum wage for their age group as per the table above.
▼ PAYE Tax codes The emergency tax code for the 2025/2026 tax year remains at 1257L, and there are no automatic uplifts in tax codes. To find out more, visit our update your employees' tax codes article. The tables below show the bandwidths for the rest of the UK, Scotland and Wales. Rest of UK Bandwidths and Rates | From (£) | To (£) | Rate (%) | Band | | 0.01 | 37,700.00 | 20.00 | Basic rate | | 37,700.01 | 125,140.00 | 40.00 | Higher rate | | 125,140.01 | excess | 45.00 | Additional rate | Scottish Bandwidths and Rates | From (£) | To (£) | Rate (%) | Band | | 0.01 | 2,827.00 | 19.00 | Starter rate | | 2,827.01 | 14,921.00 | 20.00 | Basic rate | | 14,921.01 | 31,092.00 | 21.00 | Intermediate rate | | 31,092.01 | 62,430.00 | 42.00 | Higher rate | | 62,430.01 | 125,140.00 | 45.00 | Advanced rate | | 125,140.01 | excess | 48.00 | Top rate | Welsh Bandwidths and Rates | From (£) | To (£) | Rate (%) | Band | | 0.01 | 37,700.00 | 20.00 | Basic rate | | 37,700.01 | 125,140.00 | 40.00 | Higher rate | | 125,140.01 | excess | 45.00 | Additional rate | Tax relief for childcare | | Basic Rate (£) | High Rate (£) | Higher Rate (£) | | Weekly | 55.00 | 28.00 | 25.00 | | Monthly | 243.00 | 124.00 | 110.00 | | Annually | 2,915.00 | 1,484.00 | 1,325.00 | ▼ National Insurance (NI) Earnings bands | | Weekly (£) | Monthly (£) | Yearly (£) | | Secondary Threshold (ST) | 96.00 | 417.00 | 5,000.00 | | Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) | 125.00 | 542.00 | 6,500.00 | | Primary Threshold (PT) | 242.00 | 1,048.00 | 12,570.00 | | Freeport/Investment Zone Upper Secondary Threshold (FUST) | 481.00 | 2,083.00 | 25,000.00 | | Upper Earnings Limit (UEL) | 967.00 | 4,189.00 | 50,270.00 | | Upper Secondary Threshold (UST) | 967.00 | 4,189.00 | 50,270.00 | | Apprentice Upper Secondary Threshold (AUST) | 967.00 | 4,189.00 | 50,270.00 | | Veterans Upper Secondary Threshold (VUST) | 967.00 | 4,189.00 | 50,270.00 | NI Category A Rates To see the rates for all NI categories, visit our class 1 NI rates for 2025/2026 tax year article. Employee rates: | | Employee contribution rate | Director rate (%) | | Below LEL | 0.00 | 0.00 | | LEL to PT | 0.00 | 0.00 | | PT to UEL | 8.00 | 8.00 | | Above UEL | 2.00 | 2.00 | Employer rates:  NOTE: The employer contribution rates are the same whether the earnings belong to an employee or a director.
| | Employer contribution rate (%) | | Below ST | 0.00 | | ST to LEL | 15.00 | | LEL to FUST/IZUST | 15.00 | | FUST/IZUST to UST/AUST/VIST | 15.00 | | Above UST/AUST/VUST | 15.00 | Directors Annual Primary Threshold The pro-rated Primary Threshold for the Director annual NI calculation is £12,570. Class 1A Rates For termination payments, the Class 1A rate is 15.0% from 6 April 2025.
▼ Statutory payments The Statutory payments rates are changing from 6 April 2025. A new payment, Statutory Neonatal Care Pay, takes effect in payroll from 6 April 2025. Statutory sick pay From 6 April 2025, employees who earn at or above the Lower Earnings Limit receive a statutory weekly rate of £118.75. New statutory sick pay rates: | Unrounded daily rates | Number of working days in a week | 1 day to pay | 2 days to pay | 3 days to pay | 4 days to pay | 5 days to pay | 6 days to pay | 7 days to pay | | £16.9642 | 7 | £16.97 | £33.93 | £50.90 | £67.86 | £84.83 | £101.79 | £118.75 | | £19.7916 | 6 | £19.80 | £39.59 | £59.38 | £79.17 | £98.96 | £118.75 | | | £23.7500 | 5 | £23.75 | £47.50 | £71.25 | £95.00 | £118.75 | | | | £29.6875 | 4 | £29.69 | £59.38 | £89.07 | £118.75 | | | | | £39.5833 | 3 | £39.59 | £79.17 | £118.75 | | | | | | £59.3750 | 2 | £59.38 | £118.75 | | | | | | | £118.750 | 1 | £118.75 | | | | | | | Parental pay The rates below come into effect from the first Sunday in April, which is 6 April 2025. | Payment | Higher rate % | The standard rate is the lesser of: £ | or, % | Weeks at higher rate | Weeks at Standard rate | | Statutory Maternity Pay | 90.00 | 187.18 | 90.00 | 6 | 33 | | Statutory Adoption Pay | 90.00 | 187.18 | 90.00 | 6 | 33 | | Statutory Paternity Pay | N/A | 187.18 | 90.00 | N/A | 2 | | Shared Parental Pay | N/A | 187.18 | 90.00 | N/A | 37 | | Parental Bereavement | N/A | 187.18 | 90.00 | N/A | 2 | | Neonatal Care | N/A | 187.18 | 90.00 | N/A | 12 |
▼ Automatic enrolment Auto enrolment thresholds are unchanged for the 2025/2026 tax year. | Pay reference period | Lower level of qualifying earnings | Earnings trigger for automatic enrolment | Qualifying Earnings upper limit | | 1 Week | £120.00 | £192.00 | £967.00 | | Fortnight | £240.00 | £384.00 | £1,934.00 | | 4 weeks | £480.00 | £768.00 | £3,867.00 | | 1 month | £520.00 | £833.00 | £4,189.00 | | Annual | £6,240.00 | £10,000.00 | £50,270.00 | Contribution rates The minimum Employer contribution remains at 3%. The total minimum contribution remains at 8%.
▼ Student loans When you set up a student loan deduction for an employee, you must specify whether they're on Plan 1, Plan 2 or Plan 4. The deduction rates stay the same, but the thresholds they apply from increase for the 2025/2026 tax year. | Type | Weekly £ | Monthly £ | Annual £ | Rate % | | Plan Type 1 | 501.25 | 2,172.08 | 26,065.00 | 9.00 | | Plan Type 2 | 547.50 | 2,372.50 | 28,470.00 | 9.00 | | Plan Type 4 | 629.71 | 2,728.75 | 32,745.00 | 9.00 |
▼ Postgraduate loans There's no change to postgraduate loans for the 2025/2026 tax year. | Type | Weekly £ | Monthly £ | Annual £ | Rate % | | Standard | 403.84 | 1,750.00 | 21,000.00 | 6.00 |
▼ Employment allowance For the 2025/2026 tax year, the employment allowance increases to £10,500. Also from 6 April 2025, there's no longer a cap of £100,000 Employers NI to be eligible. This means employers with liability above £100,000 for the prior tax year are eligible for employment allowance in 2025/2026. NOTE: The restriction remains that companies aren't eligible where their only employee is a single director.
▼ Apprenticeship levy The Apprenticeship Levy allowance is £15,000. The Apprenticeship Levy rate is 0.5%.
▼ Attachment of earnings orders (AEOs) Where attachments of earnings orders use rates to calculate deductions, your software includes these rates and applies them automatically. It was announced on 4 February 2025 that Scottish Earnings Arrestment AEO rates are changing from April 2025. NOTE: There are no changes to other AEOs. The new bands and rates are: Weekly | Attachable earnings from (£) | Attachable earnings to (£) | Deduction rate (%) | | 0.00 | 172.61 | 0.00 | | 172.62 | 345.22 | 15.00 | | 345.23 | 575.37 | 20.00 | | 575.38 | 863.06 | 25.00 | Monthly | Attachable earnings from (£) | Attachable earnings to (£) | Deduction rate (%) | | 0.00 | 750.00 | 0.00 | | 750.01 | 1,500.00 | 15.00 | | 1,500.01 | 2,500.00 | 20.00 | | 2,500.01 | 3,750.00 | 25.00 |
▼ NHS Pensions bands We're currently awaiting official confirmation of the NHS pension bands and rates. Below are the 2024/2025 rates. We'll update this table for 2025/2026 when we receive confirmation. | Tier | Pensionable pay from | Pensionable pay to | Employee contribution rate | Employer contribution rate (non-medical school) | Employer contribution rate (medical school) | | 1 | £0.00 | £13,259.99 | 5.2% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | | 2 | £13,260.00 | £26,831.99 | 6.5% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | | 3 | £26,832.00 | £32,691.99 | 8.3% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | | 4 | £32,692.00 | £49,078.99 | 9.8% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | | 5 | £49,079.00 | £62,924.99 | 10.7% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | | 6 | £62,925.00 | And above | 12.5% | 14.38%* | 14.84%* | *The actual Employer contribution rate is 23.7%. However, the NHS Business Service Authority will only collect 14.3% from employers or 14.76% from medical schools. They also charge a 0.08% admin charge, included in the values above. Sage 50 Payroll includes this admin charge in the Employer contribution rates. NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care top this up by 9.4% for employers or 8.94% for medical schools.
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