Self Employed Maternity Allowance - maintaining business whilst claiming?

[PeanutBug]

Hello!

I’m in the process of filling out my form to claim MA later in the year. I’ve only been self employed fully in the last few months but have been a sole trader for years alongside full time work so MA is new to me!

I run an eBay store and my plan was to turn it off for a period of time once baby is here but I’d hoped to turn it back on and continue to receive sales perhaps 2-3 months after I’ve had my baby so things are ticking over but get my partner to do the shipping on my behalf. I understand you can have KIT days whilst claiming MA but this doesn’t really apply to the nature of my business unfortunately. I’ve read online that you can have someone maintaining the business for you and you can still receive income but just can’t actively work on the business. So in theory, could he source/list new items on my shop and then post out any orders on my behalf and I can still receive the income?

Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation and can offer any advice at all please? Thanks!

Hi I claimed self employed MA twice. I'm an author, so I got paid royalties every month from publishers and Amazon. I couldn't just turn off those payments, so I had a steady stream of income still. I didn't write any new books during that time but I did get DH to maintain ads for me on existing books so I actively made sales but I wasn't involved in them if you see what I mean. I was prepared to explain if anyone asked but no one did. I know it's not exactly the same but thought it might help as an illustration of how it can work.

You may have found out the answer by now, but you cannot actively work in your business while claiming MA. If you are the only member of staff, then you will have to close your business. If you get your husband to do the work for you, you will have to employ him, properly. With that comes payroll, taxes and employers liability insurance. If he already has an income, then he's going to be taxed on his earnings from you. You'll probably find it isn't worth it.