maternity pay after tax and ni

[Trixiebell]

I am currently 10 weeks pregnant and soon will be speaking to personnel regarding maternity leave etc. As this is my first pregnancy i am not sure how it works, ive read for the first 6 weeks you get 90% of your weekly wage and then £139.58 for every week after, how do i work out what my weekly take home home will be after tax and ni?
I am wanting to work out how much i would need to put too (save between now and due date) to make up the difference so we dont struggle as maternity pay doesnt even cover my half of the bills.

 

[sue_88]

On statutory you won't pay any tax as its under the 10,000 threshold, and you'll also get some tax back if you're a paye employee as its worked out month on month generally. So the bit you'll need to work out is the 90%.

If you go to a tax calculator like listentotaxman, you can input the number as if you were earning 90% all year round and that will give you monthly and weekly figures for tax and ni deduction so you can see what would come off in those 6 weeks

 

[Lou1234]

Also be aware as it is weekly, some months you might get more and other months less depending on when the Sunday falls (think it is a Sunday).

 

[Pearls18]

I paid tax on mine because I had already reached the threshold for the year by the time I was on maternity leave it depends on how much you've earned and when abouts in the year you leave, don't forget pension contributions too if you're in a pension. I'm really sorry I can't remember how much I was paid when only on the SMP element x

 

[Trixiebell]

Thank you everyone for your comments ive worked out roughly what i should get

 

[jtr2803]

If your employer offers childcare vouchers and you can afford them I would advise starting them before your maternity leave for two reasons:

Whilst on SMP you must still receive the vouchers but they cannot be deducted from your SMP, IE your employer will have to foot the bill (although arguably your average weekly earnings for the 6 weeks at 90% would be lower so partly covering this). This is because ccv are a contractual benefit under a salary sacrifice arrangement.

Secondly the scheme is changing in autumn and is not going to be as beneficial as it is now, depending on your childcare needs/bill.

 

[gingajewel]

You generally get £10600 tax free a year but if you have hit that allowance before you go on maternity then you will pay tax on your smp. It differs for everyone how much they will end up with and also depends how many weeks there are in the month.