Maternity Allowance and National Insurance Contributions

Terry_Daktil

Hi,

I am registered self employed and, being pregnant, have recently sent back my National Insurance Small Earnings Exemption Certificate as i wish to start paying National Insurance class 2, as not doing so seriously affects the amount of Maternity Allowance i am entitled to when the baby is born.

I believe that HMRC will look at my history of NI payments and as long as there are 13 weeks of class 2 payments leading up to claiming Maternity Allowance that i will get the full amount.

However, the baby is due in January and i requested to pay NI class 2 from August. I received a letter from HMRC saying they are only taking the first payment from me in December which will only cover 4 weeks between August/September.

My question is, do i qualify for the full amount of Maternity Allowance as HMRC may not have taken the payment for the full 13 weeks in the test period by the time i claim? If not, would i be wise to wait until the class2 payments have been taken before claiming?

The extract below from dwp.gov.uk just says "covered" not "paid" contributions?
Also, it states that full MA is payable from the end of the week that is covered?? This contradicts the 13 week test period rule and implies that if i pay 1 week class2 i get 1 week full MA, if i pay 3 weeks class2 i get 3 weeks full MA.......and so on. Am i wrong?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.



" If you are self-employed and do not have a small earnings exception certificate, for any week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution you will be treated as having enough earnings to result in the standard rate of MA, payable at the end of the week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution. This means that:

From 12 April 2010 treated as earning £138.75
From 11 April 2011 treated as earning £143.03
From 9 April 2012 treated as earnings £150.50 "

enabledebra

Terry_Daktil wrote: »

Hi,

I am registered self employed and, being pregnant, have recently sent back my National Insurance Small Earnings Exemption Certificate as i wish to start paying National Insurance class 2, as not doing so seriously affects the amount of Maternity Allowance i am entitled to when the baby is born.

I believe that HMRC will look at my history of NI payments and as long as there are 13 weeks of class 2 payments leading up to claiming Maternity Allowance that i will get the full amount.

However, the baby is due in January and i requested to pay NI class 2 from August. I received a letter from HMRC saying they are only taking the first payment from me in December which will only cover 4 weeks between August/September.

My question is, do i qualify for the full amount of Maternity Allowance as HMRC may not have taken the payment for the full 13 weeks in the test period by the time i claim? If not, would i be wise to wait until the class2 payments have been taken before claiming?

The extract below from dwp.gov.uk just says "covered" not "paid" contributions?
Also, it states that full MA is payable from the end of the week that is covered?? This contradicts the 13 week test period rule and implies that if i pay 1 week class2 i get 1 week full MA, if i pay 3 weeks class2 i get 3 weeks full MA.......and so on. Am i wrong?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.



" If you are self-employed and do not have a small earnings exception certificate, for any week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution you will be treated as having enough earnings to result in the standard rate of MA, payable at the end of the week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution. This means that:

From 12 April 2010 treated as earning £138.75
From 11 April 2011 treated as earning £143.03
From 9 April 2012 treated as earnings £150.50 "

Paying NICs 'late' won't reduce MA - see link below for options to pay and just make sure by checking with HMRC that you've paid re each week you need to get covered. NB You need to get rid of the exemption cert for those weeks though (if it's possible- speak to HMRC)

"If you are self-employed and hold a small earnings exception certificate, you will be treated as having earnings equal to the MAT at the end of any week covered by your certificate. This means you are treated as earning £30 a week. This applies even if you pay a class 2 NI contribution for a week which is also covered by the certificate."

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payinghmrc/class2nics.htm#14