NIM13101 - Class 1A National Insurance contributions: Liability for Class 1A NICs: Person liable to pay Class 1A NICs: General

Section 10(2) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (SSCBA 1992)

The person liable to pay Class 1A NICs is:

• the person who is liable to pay secondary (employer) Class 1 NICs on the last or only relevant payment of earnings to an earner in the tax year in which the benefit is provided, or
• if there is no Class 1 NICs liability, because a relevant payment of earnings has not been made, the person who would have been liable if the benefit provided had itself been a payment of earnings.

An exception to this general rule occurs where a benefit or non-cash voucher is provided to an employed earner by someone other than his or her employer - usually called a third party benefit, see NIM16350. In the remainder of this guidance, a person’s employer is assumed to be the person liable to pay Class 1A NICs unless otherwise stated.

Guidance on what is meant by a “relevant payment of earnings” is contained at NIM13111.