worrying about maternity pay

[beccaharrison89]

im due to fin work in 7 weeks and the first two weeks i off is hols and then my maternity leave starts two weeks before i due.
i get 90% wages for 6 weeks and then statuary pay for the remainder and i M hoping for 9 months off.
my wages arent great anyway bit obv maternity pay is alot lower.y oh wages are really low too and we hae never claimed anything before.
can you claim working tax and child tax creds whilst on maternity leave ?

 

[Cas3]

Hi hun you are entitled to tax credits while on maternity leave just depends on your annual income have a look at this link HM Revenue & Customs: Tax credits calculator - find out how much you can get it should give you a rough idea how much your be entitled to x

 

[beccaharrison89]

thanks hun ,i have had a look at that website but it wants to calculate payments for now until end of tax year april 2012 but i not due til june so am i going to have to wait till start of new tax year or when baby born to find out

 

[oasis6918]

They calculate it from when baby is due, I've rang tax office and they told me to ring back when baby born, but they can give you an estimate over the phone before hand. I'd give them a call, I'm losing over 60% of my wages x

 

[beccaharrison89]

are you losing that much because the statuary materity is a lot lower than ur norm wage?
last time i rang the woman was realy rude to me on the phone and didnt give me no help and just said phone bacjk when you have had the baby

 

[oasis6918]

Yeah some of them are like that. I get 6 weeks at 90% then smp, which is so much less than my normal wage. Don't know how we managed last time but we did, just getting saving sorted now x

 

[beccaharrison89]

i only down 200pound month from norm wages o im hoping we will get little bit of help and that will knock it up abit so we wont struggle.
luckily my wages rnt great

 

[oasis6918]

That's ok in one sense then I guess, I wish I could make mine up x

 

[geordie_lass21]

i only down 200pound month from norm wages o im hoping we will get little bit of help and that will knock it up abit so we wont struggle.
luckily my wages rnt great

Dont forget you will get child benefit as well from having your baby (i cant remember if this is your first or not but if it is this will be an extra £82 a month).

Tax Credits are changing that if you earn less than £26k (as a family so you and your husband) then you dont get them. It was a lot more than that before. The bit I have an issue on is its the last tax year (which obviously you are earning) whereas its next year when they access everything that shows this years income (the year you are on maternity).

So for me when I had my daughter i got more tax credits when back earning than i did when on maternity.

what i did is imagine i had just had the baby and put in a date of birth of the previous week just so you can get an idea of what is expected

 

[beccaharrison89]

thanks hun thats very helpful.
so if u earn less than 26k between u ,u dnt gt tax creds?

 

[mrs-s]

No it's if you earn more than 26k you don't get them x

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

It's. A joke all this beifit I don't get f all !!!!

 

[beccaharrison89]

oooo right ok between us are wages are less than20k so hopefully they should help us out.
we have never claimed anythin so now i think its worth tryin

 

[oasis6918]

Our combined wage is over 26 grand so we lose our tax credits soon, but I currently get 82 child benefit and 41 child tax. For Lo's first year I got 80 quid for each one then if this helps, I was working in out the other day if this was my first child I was looking at about 160 in total every 4 weeks, and if your on lower income you might be entitled to working tax while on maternity leave, I'd look at that too hope this helps x

 

[oasis6918]

oooo right ok between us are wages are less than20k so hopefully they should help us out.
we have never claimed anythin so now i think its worth tryin

Apply for everything, even if it you only qualify while on maternity leave it's better than nothing x

 

[beccaharrison89]

ye ill defo apply for it all.i work 31hours at the mo now anf wanted to go back to work 16hrs so i not sure what would happen then
i could only go back part time if got hwlp if not couldnt affordit

 

[mrs-s]

Theres only dh working here and he gets about 25k so we barely get anything it's about 30 a week we get and 20 for child benefit, it just about pays for food shopping and dh wage just about pays the bills lol, gunna have to find some things to cut down with 2 x

 

[beccaharrison89]

i really dont want to go back to work full time if i dont hve too i want to go back two days 16hrs

 

[mrs-s]

If I worked part time by the time we took the tax credits cut, paid for childcare, travel etc we would be worse off so it makes no sense x

 

[beccaharrison89]

at the mo i earn 9000 year and oh earns 10,000 year so you think coz we so low we would get help ?
also if i went back part time would i still get help coz ohs wages r crao