JSA C based - tax credits help

Mrs_T_5

Thanks for all your advice - i hopefully will start employment during september - so will not be needing to wait until the january change over for the tax year cut offs . I too have wondered about the voluntary contributions because of the part time work i did during my time at uni i have recieved a number of letters asking if i would like to voluntary pay to make up the numbers sort of thing . I figured that the amount of money i pay now would probably not be repaid back to me - as they say there will be no money left in the coffers by the time i retire.

I am currently a supply teacher so hopefully when on permanant contract will build up a good pension within the profession... heres hoping cos i never seem to qualify for anything from the state!

Thanks for all your replies

Mrs T

Tharweb

Spendless wrote:

Tharweb-could you explain more why you'd be able to claim from jan next year since we'd still be in current tax year. This question has come up at least once before and it'd be helpful to know when people can claim. TIA

oldmotherreilly has answered the question but basically benefit years start in January and tax years (as we all know) run from April.

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Thank you! I have never been sure about this. My experience of paying voluntary conts was when I was self-employed but not earning enough to HAVE to pay NI, however if I paid voluntary conts for those years I could claim Maternity Allowance or whatever it was in those days.

You sure it was voluntary conts you paid? As far as I am aware they have never enabled entitlement to any benefit other than RP. It is however possible to pay SE conts even if you have a low earnings exemption in force for that year in order to qualify for MA though.

Savvy_Sue

Tharweb wrote:

You sure it was voluntary conts you paid? As far as I am aware they have never enabled entitlement to any benefit other than RP. It is however possible to pay SE conts even if you have a low earnings exemption in force for that year in order to qualify for MA though.

Well, let's say they were voluntary SE conts then! As in, I did not HAVE to pay them, because my SE income was too low to make it necessary, so I had an exemption certificate. But I was able to pay them for certain years, and yes, that did enable me to claim whatever the basic rate of maternity allowance was called in those days for my second and third child. It was a godsend at the time, I was quids in for doing this. Plus I've got more years towards my SRP if I live that long and the govt haven't abolished it by then!

From what you're saying, it is still possible to do this if you are self-employed. So am I right in thinking that if you were already paying NI conts as a SE person with an income high enough to have to do so, you would be entitled to the MA these days? It's not relevant to me any more, but I don't want to mislead people! Equally, if there's something they're entitled to, I don't want them to miss out!

Tharweb

Savvy_Sue wrote:

From what you're saying, it is still possible to do this if you are self-employed. So am I right in thinking that if you were already paying NI conts as a SE person with an income high enough to have to do so, you would be entitled to the MA these days? It's not relevant to me any more, but I don't want to mislead people! Equally, if there's something they're entitled to, I don't want them to miss out!

To get MA you must have:

• been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 week in the 66 weeks up to and including the week before your baby is due. This 66 week period is known as the test period. Part weeks are counted as full weeks; and

• earned on average at least £30 or more a week, in any 13 weeks in the test period

Yes, it is still possible to pay SE conts for the specific purpose of qualifying for MA. Say you have been SE for more than 26 weeks but haven't paid the conts for whatever reason, if you pay 13 weeks class 2 you qualify for 26 weeks of £106.00, do the math