Invoicing clients while receiving MA or SMP??

[starkadder]

I've recently started my own business. Am the sole director. Found out a week after I'd taken the plunge that I am also pregnant. I'm very happy because have wanted a 2nd DC for a while and had mostly given up thinking it would happen, but am terrified because am main breadwinner. I know?.I feel very stupid.

Anyway, I'm basically doing consulting and training work but what I'm hoping to have ready by the time the baby (fingers crossed) is born is a database of very specific information that I will sell licenses for. I was hoping to be able to sell, at a heavily discounted price, a license to a current client on the understanding that they will basically "beta test" the database for me for a few months, work with it, and come to me with queries and suggestions - but no more than that. I.e. no more consultations, training or on-site working for them for that period of time.

However, if I did this, and invoiced for it while I was also receiving SMP/MA, this would count as work, right? How about if I kept my answers to the queries to less than 10 days?

Also, I do have someone else working on this with me, currently unpaid but plan is to give shares in the business - if THEY answered the questions, would that be acceptable? Would I first have to list them as an employee to make it obvious that it was not me working? If so, would I have to put them on payroll?

Basically, I want to try and sell the license AND have SMP/MA. Is that having my cake and eating it?? Am embarrassed to be in this situation and so ignorant so any help will be gratefully and humbly received.

Could you date all the invoices on the 10 days so it is within your kit allowance?

Worst case scenario you'll only lose 1 day ma if you do extra work - it doesn't stop completely.

To be honest, they don't seem to check though - they vaguely told me to let them know the dates of my kit days. I didn't, and they never followed up.

So you have incorporated a company and you are the sole director and shareholder?

The company will be selling the licenses so there is no problem with that.

The restrictions on working while receiving SMP or MA are exactly that - restrictions on doing work, not receiving income. This has two implications:

1. if someone else does the work (answering queries) there is no problem
2. there is no mechanism for monitoring whether you are spending your time watching your baby sleep or answering work related questions

Note that for SMP you are going to need to have been employed by your company from the week before you conceived. If you did not set this up at the time and try and backdate everything now it is possible that HMRC and/or DWP will put a spanner in the works. They may also take a dim view if you earn virtually nothing until the last 8 weeks before ML and then ramp up your earnings to achieve a high level of SMP, although I have no knowledge of any measures that are in place to monitor or prevent this.

Assuming you are not going to be able to pass the Continuous Employment rule for SMP, you will qualify for the full rate of MA if you pay yourself at least £143.03 for 13 weeks prior to your ML, which is about what you will want to pay for tax-efficient extraction of profit from the company anyway.

If you don't already have an accountant then you will probably need one, although most accountants (me included) are not benefit experts.

Thanks MrAnchovy! That is extremely useful. I don't qualify for SMP so I think it is going to be MA - which, since I'd be paying myself a very low salary anyway for tax efficiency, as you say, I think will work out roughly the same anyway. The info about the company invoicing not being the same as me working is really helpful - that was where I was confused - thank you again!

... MrAnchovy does answering an email count as 'work' ie takes up a whole KIT day?

As the law and associated guidance is written, I am afraid it does. I cannot personally believe an appeal tribunal would enforce that though.