tax and ni on maternity pay

[emmie]

do you pay tax and national insurance on maternity pay? cheers

 

[daftscotslass]

Yes. Usual amount while you're on full pay and it adjusts to a small amount when on SMP only.

 

[emmie]

what is the small amount? this months pay ill be the 1st smp only cheers x

 

[daftscotslass]

I ended up with about £480-£500 a month I think.

 

[kalia]

Every tax year you have a tax and ni free personal allowance (around £6000, google if you want an exact figure for this year) and you pay tax (20%) and national insurance (11%) on all your income above this. So if you took the whole tax year off on maternity leave and only received 39 weeks of MA / SMP you wouldn't pay any tax or ni because that comes to around £4600. If you have other income in the tax year you will be taxed on your income above the personal allowance. Your employer spreads your personal allowance throughout the year rather than in one chunk.

I have 2 jobs and I was entitled to SMP from both of them. My personal allowance is only with one employer so I was paid around £375 from the employer with no allowance and £450 from the employer with the allowance.