Maternity Pay as a freelancer (Ltd Company)

[H0mers1mpson]

Hello everyone.

Apologies for the rather boring topic of a Saturday evening. I'm half sulking/half relishing some alone time on the sofa whilst DH attends a beery football BBQ.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant, and I'm a freelancer. I trade through my own company (I'm not a sole trader).

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of setup and claiming statutory Maternity Pay. I've skulked around the DWP website but it's not terribly clear, and I'm wondering what I'm entitled to, and when, and how to claim? I've skulked a lot, it's driving me to binge the chocolate shelf in the fridge, and I'm totally confused.

:D thanks

Are you an employee of your company?

I am, of our own Ltd company. I gave my matb1 form to the accounts. They have worked out what my monthly pay is based on what I earned last year, and that's the amount the stat mp is based on that I will get direct from the government.

Hiya Cola

Thanks for getting back to me!

I am director of my company, and as such am also the only employee. So there's no accounts dept (aside from me at the kitchen table when it comes to tax return time).

Thanks again, I'll start by checking out the matb1 form

:)

Do you have an accountant?

Hi Homer. Same as me. Me and hubby are company directors but employees of the company.

We have accountants that do our payroll (for our staff - hub and I take a different amount each month which is then worked out by accountants as a yearly dividend at year end).

So, because we don't have monthly payslips, just the accounts year end (which isn't a true reflection), my accounts now look at what we put as my salary for the whole of the last accounting year, and split it by 12 and that's what my monthly salary is based on.

I've sent my MATB1 form off to the accountants and they have started giving me a monthly payslip based on last years amounts. That's what my SMP will be based on and it will be paid directly to me into my bank account.

For accounts I mean accountants. We certainly don't have an accounts dept!!

It might be worth your while getting an accountant to have a look at this for you as there is a perfectly legal way to maximize your SMP (well the 90% first 6 weeks part) and the Ltd co can claim it all back.

You do need to
a) have a payroll scheme already set up
b) have yourself paid by Paye before (iirc - not 100% sure on dates) Week 15 of your pregnancy
c) you must also fulfill all the criteria for SMP as an employee.

If you don't have a scheme/Paye reference and/or are not currently paid that way then you should be entitled to MA via the DWP the same as any other non-qualifying employee.

hth

Thanks so much for this info guys, and for taking the time to write back. I'm just back from a wee holiday, and I've fired off an email to my accountant with your thoughts. I'll let you know how I get on.

Have a great weekend!

:)

Hello ladies!

My accountant's assistant is suggesting I take my MATB form down to my local DHS or DWP office. Does this sound right to you guys? I would, of course, have no payslips or proof of current income if I did this.

Also I'm really busy at the moment with various freelance projects, and don't have much time to be sitting in a waiting room only to be told I'm doing the wrong thing and that I need to sort it out some other way!

Thanks again!!!

Mo

I'm having a call about this with my accountant on Thursday - I'll report back with what she says!

Wow! That would be really brilliant!! Thanks so much copper!

x

I had this, I was entitled to SMP from my company same as from any other employer. I expect you pay yourself a minimum salary and then dividends on top same as I do to maximise tax efficiency. My accountants just calculated my SMP for me and also got HMRC to advance the relevant amounts to my company, which as a very small business you can do, because paying it out and then claiming it back from HMRC isn't really doable if you're off on mat leave and not generating any income!

Thanks flowery!!

Yes - I pay myself minimum salary + dividends.

Did you have to contact DWP or DHS yourself with the figure for SMP? Or did your accountant sort it all out for you?

Accountant did all that for me. It's HMRC who deal with SMP.