finish contract /insufficient stamps for maternity- options?

[dubinamerica]

Hi
Any help would be appreciated on this !! Having spent a number of years out of the country myself and family returned and I began contract work and joyfully discovered I was pregnant

I have contacted social welfare and they indicated that the Social security stamps I paid in the U.S. are non transferrable re: maternity, and as a contractor anyhow I believe that I would not have been entitled.

Husband is working and we own a PPR and an investment property. I don't think that I can claim benefits due to issue with stamps. Any ideas whether I would be entitled to any assistance ? Not sure how the means testing works . Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ClubMan]

Have you checked the and Welfare sites? You may also be entitled to the [broken link removed]. Make sure that you are on the most beneficial [broken link removed] (usually joint/aggregated) and that you are claiming all tax credits/allowances to which you are entitled. This thread lists some of the common ones.

 

[dubinamerica]

Thanks Clubman. Looks like I won't be entitled due to the PRSI stamps not being paid anyhow irrelevent of the whole contracting vs permanent job thing. Thanks for the info on the tax situations. I'll look into that home carer thing and those other credits. Will definitely need to sort out all the taxes and so on so the other half can claim as much as possible and make sure we're claiming what we're entitled to. thanks again for the info.

 

[ClubMan]

I have contacted social welfare and they indicated that the Social security stamps I paid in the U.S. are non transferrable re: maternity

I presume that they are transferrable in relation to other benefits though?

and as a contractor anyhow I believe that I would not have been entitled.

If you had been a self employed contractor here then you would most likely have been on PRSI Class S (see here - scroll down to class S) which does seem to cover Maternity Benefit.

No harm in double checking in case Welfare made a mistake. You could always also try the classic Irish trick of lobbying your local TDs. Alternatively (or also) contact your local for advice and apprisal of your statutory welfare/tax etc. entitlements. might have some useful information for you too.

 

[dubinamerica]

SW said that they are transferrable in regards to pension - I'll need to find out more about this at some point in case there's something I need to get from the social security office.
Re: contracting - it sortof worked differently in that the recruitment company hired me (so I didn't set up limited company or anything like that) and they pay the employer PRSI etc. I sign a contract with them to work at the the actual work place.. Apparently a lot of companies are going this route with contractors and having the 'umbrella' company. Thanks for sending on those other links - I'll take a look over those as well and see if there's anything in there that could be of use. Appreciate the pointers : )