The one per cent increase for employees and employers will raise '8bn for the Exchequer.
Now, taxpayers are waiting in trepidation to hear what Chancellor Gordon Brown has in store in Wednesday's Budget.
Accountants and business advisers BDO Stoy Hayward believes there will be little respite for Middle England.
Tax partner Janet Adam said today: "The odds are really stacking up against Middle England."
She is warning of possible further NIC increases and a rise in stamp duty on the sale of houses over '250,000. This Budget, she says, will be a belt tightner.
With the government having pledged not to increase income tax Mr Brown may be tempted to rasie the National Insurance ceiling, currently at '30,420, to fall in line with the threshold for upper rate income tax, which is '34,515. That would mean those earning more than '34,515 would pay about '350 more in NICs. It would raise about '1bn, and Mr Brown could present it as ironing out a distortion on in the tax system.
Alternatively, he could increase the one per cent NIC rate on earnings above the upper limit, meaning a fresh tax blow for the better off.
If Mr Brown freezes personal tax allowances again, and the basic and higher rate income tax thresholds, which usually rise in line with inflation, he could raise nearly '1bn.
Opinion is divided over whether he will raise stamp duty on house sales. With the housing market showing signs of a slowdown, he may be reluctant to do so.
However, with average house prices in many areas creeping towards '250,000 he may want to cash in.
Because of the house-price boom many people want Mr Brown to raise the inheritance tax threshold of '250,000 and ther are some who want him to scrap it altogether, as Italy did in 2001.
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