UK / Checker
Maternity pay checker (UK)
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for 2026/27: 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then the lower of £184.03/week or 90% for up to 33 more weeks. Many employers add an occupational top-up. PayslipIQ helps you check whether SMP, tax and NI on your payslip add up.
Educational guidance only. PayslipIQ is not HMRC, your employer, a payroll provider, tax adviser, financial adviser, pension adviser or legal adviser. Always verify with payroll or HMRC before acting.
The problem
Maternity pay is one of the most error-prone payslip categories. Employers must apply the SMP rules correctly, decide how their occupational top-up sits alongside SMP, decide whether keep-in-touch (KIT) days reset anything, and continue to apply your tax code while your taxable pay drops to a fraction of normal.
The result is often a payslip that looks unfamiliar — different gross, lower tax, lower NI, sometimes no NI, with a coding-notice tweak from HMRC mid-year. PayslipIQ checks the maths against the public rules and flags anything that does not reconcile.
Plain-English explanation
For 2026/27 the SMP rules are:
- First 6 weeks: 90% of your average weekly earnings (AWE), with no cap.
- Next 33 weeks: the lower of £184.03/week or 90% of AWE.
- Final 13 weeks of the 52-week leave: unpaid by default.
- AWE is calculated from the 8 weeks ending with the qualifying week (15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth).
SMP is taxable and NIable in the normal way. Your tax code keeps applying: cumulative codes will rebalance against year-to-date pay and tax, often producing a tax refund inside SMP weeks because your taxable income for the year drops.
Many employers add an occupational maternity pay top-up — for example, full pay for the first 16 weeks, then SMP only. The top-up is taxable and NIable too, but should be shown separately on the payslip so SMP-only weeks can be reconciled.
Worked example - month 1 of SMP after a £40,000 salary
- Pre-leave annual gross £40,000 (£769.23/week)
- AWE used for SMP £769.23
- Weeks 1-6 SMP @ 90% AWE: £692.31/week
- Weeks 7+ SMP @ £184.03/week (lower of £184.03 or 90%)
- First payslip during SMP-only weeks: ~£797.46 gross/month
- Tax code 1257L cumulative: refund likely vs prior monthly tax
- NI: Class 1 still applies above Primary Threshold
- Verify against your last full-pay payslip to spot maths errors
Worked example uses 2026/27 UK figures and is illustrative. Do not use it as a personal tax calculation.
Apply this to your own payslip
Get your figures checked in plain English
Upload a redacted payslip or enter your figures manually. PayslipIQ will run the same logic explained on this page and give you a per-line second opinion. No signup. Image not stored by PayslipIQ.
Check My Payslip FreeStep by step
Identify the SMP rate slot
Check whether the period falls in weeks 1–6 (90% AWE) or weeks 7–39 (lower of £184.03 or 90% AWE). The slot determines the expected gross.
Reconcile occupational top-up
If your employer adds maternity top-up, find a separate line on the payslip for it. Confirm it is taxable and NIable like SMP.
Check your tax code
Your code keeps applying. On a cumulative code, expect a refund inside SMP-only weeks because YTD taxable pay drops.
Confirm NI treatment
Class 1 NI still applies on SMP above the Primary Threshold. Statutory pay does not exempt you from NI.
Run a free PayslipIQ check
Upload your redacted payslip or enter the figures manually for a per-line second opinion.
What to ask payroll
- What AWE figure did you use to calculate my SMP?
- Does my contract include occupational maternity top-up, and how is it shown on payslips?
- When does my SMP rate switch from the 90% slot to the £184.03 slot?
- Is my tax code cumulative or Month-1 during my maternity period?
- Will any keep-in-touch (KIT) days affect my SMP calculation?
When to contact HMRC
- Use your gov.uk personal tax account to check your tax code (P2) during maternity. SMP can change estimated annual income and trigger a code re-issue.
- If you believe SMP itself is wrong (not just the tax around it), HMRC's Statutory Payments Disputes Team can investigate — see gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/disputes.
- If you have been over-taxed in the current year, the correction usually applies through payroll once the code updates. Prior-year refunds go through HMRC repayment.
FAQ
- Is SMP taxable?
- Yes. SMP is taxable and NIable in the normal way. Your tax code applies as usual.
- Why did I get a tax refund during maternity?
- On a cumulative tax code, every period rebalances against year-to-date taxable pay. Your YTD income drops during SMP-only weeks, so the cumulative code returns over-paid tax.
- Is the occupational top-up SMP?
- No. The top-up is contractual maternity pay above SMP. It is taxable and NIable like SMP, but it is not part of the statutory amount.
- What is the 2026/27 SMP weekly rate?
- £184.03/week for weeks 7–39, or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower.
- Can my employer pay less than SMP?
- No. SMP is a statutory minimum. Your employer can pay more, but cannot pay less if you qualify.
Related checkers
Educational guidance only. PayslipIQ provides an educational second opinion based on the figures you supply and the public 2026/27 UK PAYE, NI, pension and student-loan rules. PayslipIQ is not affiliated with HMRC and is not a regulated tax, legal, financial, payroll or employment adviser. Verify any final figure with your payroll team, HMRC, your pension provider or a qualified professional before acting.
Published 2026-05-10. Last reviewed 2026-05-10. See our methodology and payslip processing privacy notice.