When a posted worker qualifies for the India-UK CETA NI exemption

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) carries a Double Contributions Convention (DCC) that, in one narrow case, removes National Insurance from a UK payslip. It is not a blanket exemption for Indian workers in the UK, and it is a different instrument from the EU-Canada CETA that shares the acronym. The flow above resolves whether a specific posted worker qualifies, because the answer turns entirely on a short set of tests, not on nationality.

The first and decisive test is the detached-worker rule. The exemption reaches only someone resident in India, already employed by an India-based employer, who is sent to the UK temporarily. A local hire, even an Indian national recruited in the UK, is not a detached worker and pays UK NI in the normal way. As GOV.UK puts it, an India resident who moves to the UK and takes a job "will pay UK NICs in the same way as everyone else from the start".

Two further gates follow. The posting must have begun on or after 15 July 2026, the date the DCC came into force; a worker already in the UK immediately before that date does not become a detached worker. And the employer must hold a valid certificate of coverage issued by India's Employees' Provident Fund Organisation^[2] (EPFO), which proves contributions are being paid into India's scheme instead. Without the certificate the employer must deduct NI as usual, even where the worker would otherwise qualify. When all three tests pass, employee and employer Class 1 NI stop for up to 60 months (five years), or until the posting ends if sooner.

Two limits matter on the payslip. The DCC covers social security only, so PAYE income tax and the tax code are untouched; net pay rises by the NI no longer deducted, nothing more. And the exempt months add nothing to the UK State Pension record, because a qualifying year needs paid or credited UK NI. The reverse direction mirrors it: a UK worker posted to India keeps paying UK NI (via HMRC form CA9107) and pays no Indian social security. This exhibit simplifies the eligibility test for the common case; confirm any specific assignment against the gov.uk DCC explainer^[1].