Mumsnet Talk

Wondering if anyone can help me in this sea of confusion...

I'm currently looking at my finances for when I go on ML later this year (mid June)

I will receive pay from my employment, including my SMP entitlement - and any questions I have relating to that I am able to ask my HR rep at work.

However, as well as being employed, I also have self-employment status as an occasional freelance singer.

What I don't know, and can't seem to find the answer to, is: if I were to work as self-employed at all during my SMP period, would that affect my SMP entitlement from my normal work?

And does anyone have any guidance on working out how much tax you pay while on ML?

Hope someone can help me!

Technically you should declare ALL work you do whilst on maternity leave - self-employed or employed, but in reality what tends to happen is that your employer declares your Keeping-in-touch days, and as long as you don't claim Maternity Allowance too from your self-employed job, you should be able to continue with your self-employed work. It's an annoying loophole and one personally I think should be closed (as after all, you are only supposed to get the time off to bond with your baby, which you aren't doing if you are also working in another job!!!).

Well if you have two jobs and earn enough in both you would get SMP paid in both jobs.

Not sure WRT self employment. I would speak to CAB or HMRC for clarity.

Also it's worth checking if you qualify for maternity allowance for your self employed work

Thanks for the replies - I'll see if I can get some advice from HMRC.

I won't qualify for Maternity Allowance - my self-employed income is a complete pittance, even more so now I have given up my regular singing post. I'm thinking about this more as a "what if" in case I get asked to cover for someone while I am off (certainly not intending to "work" as a singer while I am on ML looking after my baby!).

I guess the simplest answer would be to give up entirely and declare myself no longer self-employed - but I would miss the opportunity to do the occasional thing

You only get maternity allowance if you aren't claiming ML/SMP from anywhere else. If you declare yourself unemployed from your self-employment, I suspect you'll still have to fill in tax return etc and then re-apply for self-employment when you return to work as a singer... Not sure if it's worth the hassle to avoid paying your Class II NI contributions... I'd probably just leave it as it is.

The answer is no. You can do as much SE work as you like without affecting SMP you are receiving elsewhere. I'm on my phone so can't give you the link but the DWP technical guide to maternity benefits has it.

Thanks flowery! I'll have a search for that guide