Maternity Allowance - minefield!

[zskyblue]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are keen to start trying to conceive, however I am somewhat apprehensive as I am self-employed. I am confident I will be entitled to the full Maternity Allowance (my NI is up to date and will continue to be maintained) but of course this doesn't get anyone that far financially!
I understand that under this Allowance you can only do ten working days as a self-employed person. I work multiple roles in my position as a freelancer and I can maintain maternity cover for many of these, however I have so many concerns and worries!

One of my sources of income comes on a commission basis and is therefore essentially a percentage of profit, not any form of salary or specific payment, and I get this percentage regardless of how many days/hours I do - does anyone know how I would be supposed to manage this throughout a period of MA? Can I send it all to a savings account as a cheeky bypass?! (I appreciate that is a potentially very naive comment!) Presumably I wouldn't be allowed to receive any income during that time beyond the MA itself?

I would actually just really love to hear from anyone SE who has had MA; how on earth do you keep your businesses going if you can only work ten days?! I would have to pay others to cover my work in some cases and so I would be losing money. Am I just wanting the cake and wanting to eat it? It's such a bizarre set-up for the self-employed so I am in awe of anyone who has managed it and would love to hear your advice, tips and stories! Thank you.

I'm 17 weeks pregnant and self-employed. To be honest, I've ditched the idea of claiming maternity allowance on the basis that I can get a month ahead of my workload over the next 5 months so that I can at least have a month off with the baby and still be paid, and see where we go from there. For me it wasn't worth the risk of losing good, regular clients by taking time out - they might not come back. Plus I have a 2 year old in nursery part time, so if I wasn't working I wouldn't be entitled to claim his tax back or free hours when he turns 3 in September. He's settled in nursery and it wouldn't be fair to take him out.

For me, much as I'd have loved some time out, it just isn't viable really.

And I am doing free work in advance, so technically I'm not working, but I'm still being paid weekly increments. It's a whole can of worms I can't be bothered to open - it just isn't worth the worry for me.

I would ring HMRC and talk to them. I've always found them pretty helpful in the past.

Plus I have a 2 year old in nursery part time, so if I wasn't working I wouldn't be entitled to claim his tax back or free hours when he turns 3 in September. He's settled in nursery and it wouldn't be fair to take him out.
That’s incorrect claiming MA you be treated as working for childcare costs.

@MyDcAreMarvel Ah right - I didn't know that - thank you. Even so, I'd be working again after a month, albeit part time. I don't think it's worth the hassle.

I claimed MA and kept my business running. I did exactly 10 KIT days and DM, DF, DB, & DH did all the other work. The business did earn less but it kept going. I did my tax return as normal no issues.

Thanks for the comments all .... @Snoozylou I reckon I'll be going down the same route as you in terms of perhaps being able to prepare to take a month off, beyond that I think it would be too much of a struggle financially. Did you do the same with your first baby?

@fedupandlookingforchange did the D-team help out with your business itself? I reckon my husband could cope with a little of that but the majority they'd all have no clue! And there are some things they literally couldn't do - my own personal business is a very small dance school, they couldn't cover my classes haha! My main source of income is from freelancing in similar areas across the entertainment business so they couldn't cover that either.

Essentially my own fault for work choices haha! It's just frustrating when I know that what I can earn teaching for the occasional hour or two each week, plus being in receipt of my profit share, would allow a tiny more flexibility in the time off and save me from paying someone to cover, topping up the MA; but the ten day rule pretty much scuppers this.

I'll give HMRC a ring when that bridge needs to be crossed and see if there is anything that can be done.

It's interesting to hear from others though - please keep your experiences coming!

@zskyblue No, I was employed but chose not to go back. I miss paid holidays! I miss not having to worry about tax or any of this! Still wouldn't go back for all the tea in China though!

I found HMRC really good when I rang up about my NI contributions. It wasn't hard to get through the either. I think it's a different number from self assessment so it might not be too bad now either.

Yes they ran the business, I was able to prepare quite a bit in advance and I'm manufacturing and retailing