Husband died my tax code reduced to 525l why?

caro78

hello, hoping someone can help me understand my new tax code. My husband died 3 weeks ago and we have a 3 yr old so DWP have written to me awarding me widowed parents allowance. The letter said notify the tax office which I have just done and they have changed my tax code from 1060l to 525l. Surely this means I am even worse off, or am I misunderstanding it?

Keep_pedalling

Really sorry for you loss. The change in code is because you will be receiving you WPA of around £5350 pa, which is not taxed at source. Any other income you receive over £5250 will be taxed, so you still get the full personal allowance, and will be considerably better off with the allowance than without it.

CRANKY40

Keep pedalling is right. It's to save you getting a big tax bill at some point. I report my WPA to the tax office who then change my tax code and notify the providers of my widows pension who deduct the tax I should pay on the WPA from my pension saving me the job of paying the tax office myself.

You're not worse off as you get the WPA in full every two weeks instead of having to put 20% of it aside to pay in tax. Give me a shout if you need any more help. It's nearly 6 years for me since I was where you are now, but I'm on facebook if you need a friend. My small person was 4 nearly 5 when it happened to us - he's 11 this year. I do know what it's like though.

caro78

Thank you, it's all so hard at the moment and I'm still in denial I think x