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Maternity Allowance for Self Employed & Class 2 nic

Temas1
Temas1 Posts: 5 Forumite
edited 16 June 2016 at 12:27AM in Benefits & tax credits
Hi. I'm writing on behalf of my wife who is self employed, 32 weeks pregnant and making an application for Maternity Allowance.

We had presumed she was entitled to £139 (which is about 1/3 of her usual weekly income) but were recently contacted by HMRC who said they she hadn't paid any class 2 nic during the period April 2016 - July 2016.

The first question I have is: when are class 2 nic payments due for this period? Since HMRC changed the way the payments are made and are no longer direct debited, surely this payment would be due when the tax return for the year 2015-2016 is submitted in January 2017?

Also, we looked at her last tax return for the year 2014-2015 and can only see a payment for class 4 nic, which we don't understand because the information we read is that class 2 nic are compulsory for people earning over £9k-ish. So why hasn't she been automaticlly billed for class 2 nic as part of her tax return?

All the information I've managed to read tonight on the internet suggests that it is not possible to back date class 2 nic in order to receive maternity allowance, which means she seems likely to lose out on around £5,000 simply because she wasn't aware that her class 2 nic hadn't made for that period (which I believe amounts to less than £100).

Does anyone have any information on this that might help?

Thanks

Comments

  • susannthe3cs
    susannthe3cs Posts: 108 Forumite
    I think I paid mine up in the June I hadn't paid them for a while and then claimed at 36 weeks which was about 8 week later, if that helps I used to get a 3 monthly invoice for nics though (2014)
  • Darksparkle
    Darksparkle Posts: 5,465 Forumite
    Class 2 NIC was only included on self assessment from 2015/16, it was paid separately before that.
  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 23,163 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    https://www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/eligibility

    If you haven’t paid enough Class 2 National Insurance

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will check if you’ve paid enough Class 2 National Insurance to qualify for Maternity Allowance when you make your claim.

    If you haven’t (eg because you’re self-employed and haven’t filed your Self Assessment tax return yet), DWP will write to you to let you know.

    HMRC will then contact you to tell you how to make an early payment.
  • Temas1
    Temas1 Posts: 5 Forumite
    Thanks for the info.

    It turns out that even though she had submitted a self employed self assessment HMRC hadn't registered her as self employed. So she did that this morning and they will send her a bill for the class 2 nic owed.

    They weren't able to say whether it will affect her application for MA, but the information supplied above sounds promising.

    Thanks again.
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