Winter Fuel Allowances worth £300 have been paid to people of state pension age, so aged 66 – born in 1959 or before – this winter.
HMRC warns ‘some’ state pensioners born before 1959 will have to hand over cash
HMRC has warned “some” state pensioners born before 1959 will have to hand back Winter Fuel Payment cash. Winter Fuel Allowances worth £300 have been paid to people of state pension age, so aged 66 – born in 1959 or before – this winter.
But under Labour Party and Department for Work and Pensions, or DWP, rules, retirees face having to pay back the money. “Did you know?” the taxman asked on X, formerly Twitter, as well as Bluesky and Facebook.
“Some people will need to pay back their Winter Fuel Payment if their income is over £35,000. You don’t need to do anything now, as it will be repaid later either automatically through your tax code or by including it in your tax return for 2025/26.
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“Not sure if this applies to you? It only takes a few minutes to check with our online calculator.” The amount you get is based on when you were born and your circumstances between 15 and 21 September 2025. This is called the ‘qualifying week’.
Any money you get will not affect your other benefits. HMRC will take your Winter Fuel Payment back by either changing your tax code for the 2026 to 2027 tax year – or adding the amount to your 2025 to 2026 Self Assessment tax return.
The ATT said: “Winter Payments will be recovered where they are paid to an individual with income above £35,000. There is no tapering of the clawback – just £1 of income above £35,000 will make the difference between retaining or losing the payment.
“The DWP has developed a calculator so that pensioners can check whether, and how, their Winter Payment will be clawed back.
“It is our understanding that income for this purpose will be based on total taxable income, rather than adjusted net income, so there will be no deduction for Gift Aid or similar payments.
“Where the pensioner files a Self-Assessment tax return online, HMRC will prepopulate the Winter Payment details automatically if their income is above £35,000. This will need to be manually entered if a paper tax return is submitted.
P”ensioners with income above £35,000 who do not file tax returns will have their PAYE coding notice adjusted for the 2026/27 tax year to clawback Winter Payments received during the previous tax year.
“From April 2027, it is expected that HMRC will recover any Winter Payments in the same tax year they are paid.”