SMP ??

[KJ11]

do you pay tax and NI on the SMP or is the £117 after tax and NI??

you pay tax on it and NI.

good god, do you know if you pay it at the standard rate irrespective of your usual tax rate?

If you received maternity pay for 1 year (I know you can't but just assuming mathmatically) you would earn £6,084 for the year. You get a tax free allowance each year of £5,435 (for 2008-09) and then you pay 10% tax on the next £2,230 so your tax on your SMP would be just under £65 for the year - or £1.25 a week.

National Insurance is only payable when you earn over £94.01 per week and then it is 11% of the amount above that, so it would be £2.53 per week.

Total SMP received will be about £113.22 so not much impact of tax and NI. (This may change slightly if the 10% starting rate is removed next year) Also when you go back to work you will have used your yearly tax free allowance so your taxable income may be slightly higher.

Hope this helps!