Maternity Pay and self employment

[FakeBakeLover99]

Hello everyone [emoji3]

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I live in Scotland and next year my fiancé and I are looking to try for a baby [emoji3].

I am currently self employed in my home salon but technically don't earn enough to pay national insurance however I have been voluntarily been paying the full amount since 2012.

Does anyone know if I am entitled to the full maternity pay ? And when the time comes how do I claim it?

I've tried to look online but it only says what happens if you don't pay national insurance of if you are employed.

thanks again

Vicky xxxx

 

[mrsd88]

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/eligibility hth

 

[sallysally]

Hello everyone [emoji3]

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I live in Scotland and next year my fiancé and I are looking to try for a baby [emoji3].

I am currently self employed in my home salon but technically don't earn enough to pay national insurance however I have been voluntarily been paying the full amount since 2012.

Does anyone know if I am entitled to the full maternity pay ? And when the time comes how do I claim it?

I've tried to look online but it only says what happens if you don't pay national insurance of if you are employed.

thanks again

Vicky xxxx

Hi Vicky,

If you are self employed and have been paying class 2 national insurance contributions for at least 13 weeks out of the 66 weeks before your baby is due.

It doesn't matter what you have been declaring as your salary on your tax return it is based on whether you pay class 2 national insurance contributions.

You can claim it from week 26 for 39 weeks.

 

[FakeBakeLover99]

Thanks Sally [emoji3] I was confused because I kept seeing things that say you get either 140 odds a week or 90% of your earnings whichever is lower but I was like ahh what if I hardly earn any it seemed of considering I was paying national insurance. Xxxx

 

[sallysally]

Thanks Sally [emoji3] I was confused because I kept seeing things that say you get either 140 odds a week or 90% of your earnings whichever is lower but I was like ahh what if I hardly earn any it seemed of considering I was paying national insurance. Xxxx

I know,I had exactly the same problem as I am currently 5 months pregnant...I contacted revenue and customs....they explained that the majority of people who earn a small amount apply for a small earnings tax exemption certificate where they don't have to pay any tax at all but the down side of that is because they don't make any national insurance contributions they are also exempt from certain state benefits but can apply for maternity pay of 90% of £30 a week however if you make 'voluntary class 2 NI contributions' the you are treated as a higher earner andautomatically receive £140 a week.
Not many website explain this very clearly.
Maternity pay is done through the job centre and they just look online to see proof of how much and length of time you have been paying NI class 2 for and make decision based on that...I don't think they even contact tax office to see how much you have earnt.

 

[FakeBakeLover99]

Thanks so much [emoji3] I'm so glad I just asked to pay it anyway now ! [emoji3] it's confusing isn't it. That's good to know I won't be stressing when the time comes. The only thing I have to worry about now is hoping my clients come back when I'm back lol xxxx