Paying apprentices the correct national minimum wage

Information about apprentices' pay entitlement, and how to check this in Sage 50 Payroll.

Apprentices receive the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for their age group. To find out more about the minimum wage rates, visit our National Minimum Wage rates article.

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Do apprentices have to pay tax?

Yes, apprentices have to pay tax and national insurance (NI), like other employees.

However, apprentice wages can often be lower than average, and often fall under the thresholds for tax and NI.

Due to this, many apprentices find that they don’t have any tax liability to pay on their earnings.

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Common mistakes

Even apprentices who you pay the NMW rates or above, could still be underpaid. Common reasons for this are:

• You pay the apprentice rate to 19-year-olds who have completed the first year of their apprenticeship
• You're not paying an apprentice for training time

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Checks you can make 

First, we recommend you use HMRC's NMW and Living Wage calculator for employers to check which payments to include.

Once you know this, in Sage 50 Payroll you can:

• Check your pay element settings
• Apply the minimum/living wage check

You can now be confident your apprentices aren't earning less than their legal entitlement.

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