To recommend all sahms who might have another baby register as self employed...

[sillyoldfool]

...and pay their class 2 national insurance contributions?

If you register, and pay your NI you're entitled to the full amount of maternity allowance (£137 a week for 9 months) it doesn't matter how much, if anything, you earn. The NI contributions are less than £2 a week. If you pay them for 2 years you'll get the full amount back within a couple of weeks of MA.
So register, sell a couple of bits on test or similar, do a tax return once a year (very simple if you're not earning much) and then claim MA.

You don't have to actually receive the child benefit to have the credits paid. See here

I'm genuinely SE, and far from wealthy, but I thought it was a loophole worth sharing, if it could help someone like sebsmummy then that's fine by me.

And if it encourages someone doing cash in hand work to go legit then that's got to be a good thing.

I'm not sure why some people are against sahms doing this. I worked long hours as a student then f/t for 16yrs after university. I paid tax and NI throughout this time. Then I stopped to have children. So I've never received mat pay, tax credits or any other benefit. So if I were to do it, it would be the first time I had claimed anything back on my NI.

Foodschmood I didn't know that! OH said that we didn't qualify and if he tried to do it through his tax it would all get very complicated and he'd have to fill out loads of paperwork with nothing at the end.

I need to read that info carefully. Thanks for posting that xx

I love these things that are "legal" but which are not in the spirit of the regulation.

Surely this kind of loop hole is exactly what people on MN are constantly slagging off the "rich fat cats" for. Suggesting that people register anyway, just to get an allowance is bad advice.

It just exposes the mindset these days of how people think about "entitlements" and money they can claim. That is why this country is on its knees!!!

And I dont mind being flamed for saying it!

sebsmummy glad it was useful!

Interesting.

I can't really see the ethical problem of people paying NI contributions despite not earning loads as SE though. What am I missing, that's got other people het up? Is it income tax?

You're not entitled to maternity allowance if you do this. I don't know if you can get away with it or not but you're certainly not entitled to it.

That is not true ceramic unicorn, I'll quote again...

"If you
-are registered as self-employed, and
-have paid class 2 NI contributions, and
-do not hold a small earnings exemption certificate
you will be treated as having enough weekly earnings to result in the standard rate of MA for any week covered by that Class 2 NI contribution"

It's not unethical if they're paying their contributions in the first place, as the OP has repeated several times.

You don't pay ni to be entitled to support that's there for people in work when you aren't in work.

As far as I understand it all MA, whether for SE or employed people, comes from the NI pot. So if you're paying into that pot you're entitled.
The gov saves money on paperwork by simplifying it for SE people because it would be so much more complicated than just collecting a few payslips.

Some people on here are being very foolish - if you PAY NI, then you're (more than) entitled to the benefits you have, in fact, actually PAID FOR. That is what NI is for, and it is why people who lose their jobs and aren't able to pay NI for periods of time are entitled to "make up" those gaps in their NI payments up to a couple of years later. It's not a cheat, they've paid for the benefit.

I know this is likely to turn into a total bunfight but I'm really grateful to the OP for posting it. I was going to try and restart my sewing business once we moved anyhow, this has just given me an extra incentive to sort out the paperwork once we move.

Why is it more ethical for someone working a nominal amount who may in fact have paid a nominal amount of NI to claim it and not for someone who paid it for many years then stopped to SAH?

That's a genuine question. I'm not starting a fight. I see no reason why sebsmummy shouldn't claim.

I really don't want to get into a bunfight, I just think there's probably people not paying NI who don't realise how valuable paying it can be, so I thought I'd point that out and hopefully help some of them.

if you put £100 per month Self employed into the government calculator, it says you don't qualify for MA.

I am genuinely self employed but one thing that concerns me about this is that if lots of people start doing it to get the MA the loophole will be closed leaving genuinely SE people stuck or with having lots of extra loopholes to jump through. If I am ever lucky enough to have a baby I'll be stressed enough about what the inactive period will do to my business without having to worry about new MA regulations.

They close such things quickly when it's the little people using them, advantages are only for the rich.

That's great youare, but it's not accurate.

I really cba arguing about it, but it's a fact that if you are registered SE and pay class two NI you are entitled to full MA.

one last time...
"If you
-are registered as self-employed, and
-have paid class 2 NI contributions, and
-do not hold a small earnings exemption certificate
you will be treated as having enough weekly earnings to result in the standard rate of MA for any week covered by that Class 2 NI contribution"
From the booklet that comes with the MA form.

I doubt there will be so many people claiming after reading this thread that it will cause them to change how it's done. It would cost such a massive amount in admin to do it any other way for starters.

silly old fool - there are other requirements:

e.g."If you are self-employed, you must be registered as such with HM Rev enue & Customs according to their rules."

www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/maternity-allowance-ma/

www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/overview