What is a National Insurance number?
Your National Insurance number is a unique personal number that is used to record your National Insurance contributions and the tax you pay. It also acts as a reference number when communicating with the Department of Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs.
You do not need to have a National Insurance number before starting work, but you must obtain one when you get a job.
You can find more information on how to apply for a National Insurance number here.
Income tax
You will have to pay income tax if you earn more than a specified personal allowance in any tax year. You are entitled to a personal allowance of £12,570 of annual income tax-free. Anything above the personal allowance will be 20% income tax deductible and will automatically be deducted from your payslip.