New call to cut National Insurance deductions for certain workers | UK | News

A new online campaign is urging the UK Government to eliminate tax and National Insurance deductions from overtime payments for emergency service personnel. Petition founder Robert Prentice contends that scrapping these deductions would enhance the financial circumstances of numerous emergency workers while incentivising additional overtime shifts.

More than 5,750 people have already backed the ‘no tax or National Insurance on overtime for emergency service workers’ petition, which appears on the Petitions Parliament website. Upon reaching 10,000 signatures, the petition would warrant a written Government response, whilst 100,000 supporters would see it considered for Parliamentary debate.

According to the Daily Record, the petition states: “Members of the emergency services may regularly work overtime and sometimes do not have the choice but to work it because it may be an aid requirement or jobs may run over. We think that any overtime worked should not be taxed or subject to national insurance

“I would like this because it could allow hard working emergency service workers to be in a better situation financially. I think this change would also encourage more overtime worked leading to more resources on the streets as it would be more financially attractive and worth their time to do. I think more resources on the streets creates safer streets. Amongst other benefits.”

You can read the petition in full online here.

Meanwhile, a separate online petition is urging the UK Government to eliminate National Insurance contributions for workers aged over 60. Employees automatically stop having NICs deducted from their wage slips upon reaching State Pension age, presently set at 66, but this is set to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.

Petition founder Mike Haynes argues that exempting over-60s from National Insurance payments would ‘make it easier financially for older people to survive’. He added: “We are calling for this as many over-60s are struggling to survive due to what we believe has been incompetent government spending over the past 30 years.”

The ‘exempt workers over 60 from National Insurance payments’ petition has been published on the UK Government’s Petitions Parliament website. If it reaches 10,000 signatures of support, it would warrant a written response from the UK Government, most likely the Treasury.

At 100,000 signatures, the petition would be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Parliament—you can read it in full here.

What is National Insurance? 

The Chartered Institute of Taxation explains that National Insurance is essentially a levy paid by employees, employers and self-employed individuals. While it’s officially classified as a social security contribution, rather than a tax, it represents a typically mandatory payment extracted from you by the Government.

National Insurance contributions do not go into the Government’s consolidated fund but are reserved exclusively for social security benefits, including the State Pension. Another portion of the money is also allocated to the NHS.

Last year, a parliamentary research briefing on the matter also explained: “The NIF works as a pay-as-you-go fund. Therefore, receipts from contributions in one year are spent in the same year for contributory benefits.

“While there is a link between someone’s record of paying NICs and their entitlement to contributory benefits, there is no direct connection between the amount of NICs they pay into the NIF and the value of contributory benefits they are entitled to claim.”