Background Specifying the amount of the Upper Earnings Limit
9.The National Insurance contribution rates and thresholds which include the upper earnings limit are reviewed each year and, where appropriate, changed each year in secondary legislation by reference to the retail price index. The power to set the upper earnings limit is conferred on the Treasury. The Treasury may increase or decrease the upper earnings limit; so far as increases are concerned, the power is limited in that the upper earnings limit can be set at no more than seven and a half times the primary threshold. The primary threshold is the point at which primary Class 1 contributions become payable on a person’s earnings.