This mysterious pot of money started to accrue in 1911. Its name: the National Insurance Fund.
The fund was designed as a safety net for the nation’s workers, who could claim on the money if they fell on hard times or needed medical treatment. Yet over the years it has come to feel like income tax in all but name: it is levied by default before pay, so employees lose 12pc of any income above £153 a week to the fund, and 2pc above £805.
Bit strange to be writing about it and missing that there’s also employers’ NI, at slightly higher rates, all of which comes out of the wage packet too.
Perhaps they just don’t know this at Telegraph Towers?
It’s always be fascinating how such a simple bit of deception is so effective. It’s about as stealthy as a 15ft high orangutan.
Pot of money? Where? Where?
Well, TMB, they said it was “mysterious”. Ghostly, innit?
Why do employers not display employers’ NI on payslips? As long as this remains invisible, HMG is going to find it irresistible to keep or increase this disgraceful tax on employment.