Maternity benefit help

Hi Guys ,

Wondering if anyone can help me - I'm on maternity leave at the moment and receiving maternity benefit directly from the social welfare every Monday - My employer is topping up my wages to the full amount monthly however I am receiving far less than normal when i add my employers pay to my benefit pay. I have tried and tried to work out why. I am going to ask my employer to explain but i want to be somebit prepared - if my wages are being topped up should I be receiving in or around what i would if I was in work ?

Thanks in advance

Isn't maternity leave from the state taxed these days?

yeah it is Pete but I was under the impression that that would mean I would continue to pay the same level as tax as I do when I'm working and so my take home should be the same if the company is topping up -

To give you an idea when i was full time in work I paid roughly €470 tax a month (excluding usc etc) now when I receive my wage slip the tax deducted is €930 ish

matleave,

were you working full time, all year, until you went on maternity leave.

The Revenue tend to put people on maternity benefit on a "week one" basis of tax - this means that they get their weekly/monthly tax credits and standard rate band, but they don't get the cumulative benefit of those - so if, for some reason you'd extra credits/standard rate band to use, then you lose that. If that is the case, requesting a P21 after the year end will sort it out (though you'd continue to have a cashflow disadvantage now).

If this isn't the case, it sounds like something has gone quite wrong on your tax certificate. Ring your tax office (with your PPS number handy) and talk it through with someone there.

Hi Nige,

Yeah I was working full time until my mat leave started in May, I'll have to contact the tax office alright - tbh I just cant get my head around it and I'm normally fairly ok with stuff like this !

tks
M