SMP Recovery Calculator
Enter the Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) you pay, or your employee's average weekly earnings, and see what you reclaim from HMRC at 92% or 109%. It shows your net cost week by week and in total, and applies the £45,000 Small Employers' Relief test the way GOV.UK words it.
Rates checked against GOV.UK on 8 October 2026. Free, no sign-up. To work out the employee's SMP week by week first, use the Maternity Pay Calculator with your Class 1 National Insurance figure.
Your SMP bill
Works out the full 39 weeks of SMP. Below £129 a week, SMP is not payable.
Your Class 1 NI
Employee plus employer Class 1 NI for the last complete tax year before your employee's qualifying week, before Employment Allowance.
SMP you pay
Over 39 weeks, gross
Reclaim at 109%
£45,000 or less, 2026 to 2027
Reclaim at 92%
More than £45,000
Difference
What the NI band is worth
On £9,652.56 of SMP you reclaim £10,521.29 at 109% or £8,880.36 at 92%. Your National Insurance band is worth £1,640.93 on this SMP.
Reclaim at 109%: Small Employers' Relief
| Weeks | SMP a week | Reclaimed a week (109%) | Net cost or gain a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | £540.00 | £588.60 | Gain £48.60 |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 | £211.81 | Gain £17.49 |
| Total, 39 weeks | £9,652.56 | £10,521.29 | Gain £868.73 |
Reclaim at 92%
| Weeks | SMP a week | Reclaimed a week (92%) | Net cost or gain a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | £540.00 | £496.80 | Cost £43.20 |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 | £178.77 | Cost £15.55 |
| Total, 39 weeks | £9,652.56 | £8,880.36 | Cost £772.20 |
On your Employer Payment Summary
| EPS box (109%) | Amount |
|---|---|
| SMP reclaimed this tax year | £9,652.56 |
| SMP National Insurance contribution compensation recovered this tax year | £868.73 |
The compensation box is for Small Employers' Relief only.
All figures are gross. The reclaim is rounded once, on the total. Weekly amounts are rounded to the nearest penny, so adding up the weekly rows can differ from the total by a few pence.
How much SMP can you reclaim in 2026 to 2027?
You reclaim 92% of the SMP you pay, or 109% if your total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or lower (HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027). Employers claim back SMP from HMRC at one of these two rates. For a small employer, 109% is the SMP itself (100%) plus 9% National Insurance compensation, which the law and the EPS treat as a separate amount (SI 1994/1882, regulation 4).
£45,000 or less
Small Employers' Relief
- You reclaim
- 109%
- On £1,000.00 of SMP
- £1,090.00
Your total Class 1 NI, employee plus employer, before Employment Allowance.
More than £45,000
Standard recovery
- You reclaim
- 92%
- On £1,000.00 of SMP
- £920.00
The rest of the SMP stays your cost.
The small-employer rate changes each tax year
The small-employer rate is set for each tax year: 103% in 2024 to 2025, 108.5% in 2025 to 2026 and 109% in 2026 to 2027 (HMRC rates and thresholds for 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026). The 92% rate for larger employers was the same in 2025 to 2026. Some calculators and payroll guides still show 103% or 108.5%, so check the tax year printed beside any rate before you use it.
This calculator applies 2026 to 2027 rates to every week of SMP. If the leave runs past April 2027, check the 2027 to 2028 rates when HMRC publishes them.
Who qualifies for Small Employers' Relief?
You qualify for Small Employers' Relief if you paid £45,000 or lessin Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year before your employee's qualifying week, ignoring reductions like Employment Allowance. A bill of exactly £45,000.00 qualifies, and a bill of £45,000.01 does not (GOV.UK: Get financial help with statutory pay).
Which tax year the £45,000 test looks at
The £45,000 test reads the last complete tax year before the qualifying week, which is not always the tax year before the SMP is paid. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week the baby is due, and the Maternity Pay Calculator covers the rest of the employee's eligibility rules.
Take an employee whose qualifying week falls in November 2026. The 2026 to 2027 tax year is not complete until 5 April 2027, so the test reads 2025 to 2026, the tax year from 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026.
The test runs per employee. Two employees on leave at the same time fall under different tax years when their qualifying weeks sit either side of 5 April.
What counts towards the £45,000
Your Class 1 total includes both employee and employer contributions, measured before Employment Allowance:
- Employee Class 1 contributions deducted through your payroll
- Employer Class 1 contributions you paid on top
- The total before Employment Allowance or any other reduction
SMP recovery worked examples
Both examples use the same illustrative employee, with average weekly earnings of £600.00, so the only difference is the employer's National Insurance band. Her SMP is 6 weeks at 90% of £600.00 (£540.00 a week), then 33 weeks at £194.32, a total of £9,652.56 over 39 weeks.
Small employer: Class 1 NI of £30,000 (illustrative)
A small employer reclaims £10,521.29, which is £868.73 more than the £9,652.56 of SMP it pays. Its Class 1 NI of £30,000 is under the £45,000 test, so its recovery rate is 109%.
The £868.73 is the 9% National Insurance compensation: on the EPS it shows as £9,652.56 of SMP reclaimed plus £868.73 of compensation. This calculator leaves employer National Insurance on the SMP out, so treat the £868.73 as compensation rather than profit.
| Weeks | SMP a week | Reclaimed a week (109%) | Net cost or gain a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | £540.00 | £588.60 | Gain £48.60 |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 | £211.81 | Gain £17.49 |
| Total, 39 weeks | £9,652.56 | £10,521.29 | Gain £868.73 |
Larger employer: Class 1 NI of £120,000 (illustrative)
A larger employer reclaims £8,880.36, so the same SMP costs it £772.20 over 39 weeks. Its Class 1 NI of £120,000 is over the £45,000 test, so its recovery rate is 92%.
| Weeks | SMP a week | Reclaimed a week (92%) | Net cost or gain a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | £540.00 | £496.80 | Cost £43.20 |
| 7 to 39 | £194.32 | £178.77 | Cost £15.55 |
| Total, 39 weeks | £9,652.56 | £8,880.36 | Cost £772.20 |
On this one employee, the National Insurance band is worth £1,640.93. This calculator rounds the reclaim once, on the total, and rounds weekly figures to the penny, so adding up the weekly rows differs from the total by 4p in the first example and 15p in the second. Payroll software that rounds each pay period can differ by a few pence.
Reclaim and net cost at other earnings levels (illustrative)
Net cost rises with earnings, because the first 6 weeks of SMP are 90% of pay with no cap: at 92% it runs from £362.23 for an employee on £129.00 a week to £945.00 for one on £1,000.00 a week. £129.00 is the lowest average weekly earnings that qualify for SMP in 2026 to 2027, and at £129.00 and £200.00 all 39 weeks pay 90% of earnings, because 90% is below the £194.32 standard rate.
| Average weekly earnings | SMP over 39 weeks | Reclaim at 92% | Net cost at 92% | Reclaim at 109% | NI compensation at 109% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £129.00 | £4,527.90 | £4,165.67 | £362.23 | £4,935.41 | £407.51 |
| £200.00 | £7,020.00 | £6,458.40 | £561.60 | £7,651.80 | £631.80 |
| £400.00 | £8,572.56 | £7,886.76 | £685.80 | £9,344.09 | £771.53 |
| £600.00 | £9,652.56 | £8,880.36 | £772.20 | £10,521.29 | £868.73 |
| £1,000.00 | £11,812.56 | £10,867.56 | £945.00 | £12,875.69 | £1,063.13 |
How to reclaim SMP from HMRC
You reclaim SMP from HMRC through payroll, by reporting it on the Employer Payment Summary (EPS) (GOV.UK: Get financial help with statutory pay).
- Pay SMPthrough payroll on the employee's usual paydays, with tax and National Insurance deducted.
- Work out the reclaim: the SMP paid in the period, multiplied by 92% or 109%. One week of SMP at £540.00 gives a reclaim of £496.80 at 92% or £588.60 at 109%.
- Send the EPS by the 19th of the following tax month (tax months start on the 6th). HMRC then reduces the PAYE tax and National Insurance you owe from your Full Payment Submission (FPS).
- Pay HMRC the reduced bill by the 22nd, or the 19th if you pay by post.
- Keep the records for 3 years from the end of the tax year. They cover proof of pregnancy (usually the MATB1), the date SMP began, each SMP payment and its date, the SMP reclaimed, and any weeks not paid with the reason.
The EPS has two year-to-date boxes for SMP recovery: “SMP reclaimed this tax year” and, for Small Employers' Relief only, “SMP National Insurance contribution compensation recovered this tax year”. On £1,000.00 of SMP, a small employer enters £1,000.00 in the first and £90.00 in the second (HMRC: payroll information to report; GOV.UK: Running payroll, EPS).
A reclaim larger than the year's tax and National Insurance bill is not lost. You write to the PAYE Employer Office to ask for a repayment, but not until the next tax year starts.
Help if you cannot afford to pay SMP
An employer that cannot afford to pay SMP applies to HMRC for an advance, no earlier than 4 weeks before the first payment (GOV.UK: Get financial help with statutory pay). Later reclaims clear it: when a month's reclaim is more than that month's PAYE, HMRC uses the rest to reduce the advance. HMRC's own example is £2,500 of PAYE due and £3,000 reclaimed, which cuts the advance by £500.
- Penalty: up to £3,000 per employee for each tax year for incorrect information in the application.
- Insolvency: HMRC pays the SMP if the business becomes insolvent while an employee is getting it.
- Built-in help: the relief for small employers returns 109%, the SMP plus 9% National Insurance compensation.
What the SMP reclaim does not cover
The SMP reclaim covers SMP only, so enhanced maternity pay above SMP stays with you, and so does National Insurance on SMP beyond the 9% compensation small employers receive.
- Enhanced pay above SMP. GOV.UK's employer guide limits the reclaim to the statutory amount even when you pay more, so the extra in a full-pay or half-pay scheme is not recoverable and stays your cost. The Enhanced Maternity Pay Calculator works out what a scheme pays.
- National Insurance on SMP. National Insurance contributions are payable on SMP (HMRC), and employer Class 1 NI in 2026 to 2027 is 15% of earnings above £96 a week. This calculator shows gross figures and leaves NI out.
- The employee's own SMP. Your reclaim rate changes your cost, not her pay.
Questions employers ask about reclaiming SMP
SMP moves between three parties: the employer pays it, the employee receives it, and HMRC refunds 92% or 109% of it to the employer.
Can you reclaim the 90% weeks as well as the flat-rate weeks?
Yes: the 92% or 109% reclaim applies to all SMP, including the first 6weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings. The employer pays all SMP first, then reclaims it from HMRC. SMP goes through payroll on the employee's usual paydays, with tax and National Insurance deducted.
Employees claim SMP from their employer, not from the government. The main calculator on this site shows an employee her own weekly figures.
Does reclaiming SMP change what the employee gets?
No: the employee's SMP depends on her average weekly earnings, not on your National Insurance bill. A 92% employer and a 109% employer pay the same SMP, £9,652.56 in both worked examples. HMRC refunds the employer, not the employee, so her SMP still arrives through your payroll on her usual paydays.
When you must pay SMP, and the rest of the employer's side, is in Maternity Pay for Employers: Paying SMP and Reclaiming It.
How this calculator works
This recovery calculator multiplies your SMP by 92% or 109%, whether you enter the amount paid or the employee's average weekly earnings.
- Rates: the 2026 to 2027 SMP and recovery rates, applied to every week of the calculation.
- Gross figures: no tax, National Insurance or pension deductions.
- No dates: it does not find the qualifying week. The Maternity Pay Qualifying Week Calculator does.
- Rounding: the reclaim is rounded once, on the total. Weekly amounts are rounded to the nearest penny, so a payslip can differ by a penny or two.
Checked 8 October 2026. Sources: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, Get financial help with statutory pay, Rates and thresholds for employers 2024 to 2025 and Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave: employer guide. The full method and the corrections policy are on the Methodology and sources page.