looking for definitive answer re self-employed on mat. leave

[flymo79]

Hi - I'm looking for an answer as every time I search for this I read conflicting views. I am going on mat. leave and have a project I would like to undertake, paid, over my time away from my employer, and would go self-employed for it. But will it affect my maternity pay from my employer? Would I lose KIT days with my current employer or do I just have to declare all my earnings to HMRC? I haven't registered as self-employed yet.
thanks in advance

you cannot be on maternity pay from your employer AND earning from your self employment
BUT
you can be working on something that suddenly starts to pay you that day your maternity pay runs out, before you go back to work

thanks Talkinpeace, do you mean as soon as any statutory mat. pay stops? TIA

The above is wrong. You can be on amp and earn from self employment. It can't be one project from your current employer though. it would need to be genuine self employment and would not affect your kit days.

thanks munchkins - do you happen to know from experience or...? I just want to know for certain and there isn't a helpful HMRC page or similar...

bump - looking for website which thoroughly covers this please!!

Sorry I didnt come back sooner. Here is the tech guidance for smp where it says "If you do any work in a self-employed capacity during your MPP, then such work will not affect your SMP."

www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance

I actually found out through personal experience. Bullied out of my job thanks to severe morning sickness so built my business whilst staying there until mat leave so I was eligible for SMP. Every cloud...

THANKS munchkins!!! Hugely helpful!