Winter Fuel

brewerdave

wrf12345 said:

The £200 is not taxable income so you either get it if under 35k or it is taken back in whole through their system, which possibly they have not set up yet. Would have made more sense to just make it taxable and get their money back off everyone except for those on really low incomes (under personal tax allowance).

Politically that would have been unacceptable - effectively back to square one !!

molerat

brewerdave said:

wrf12345 said:

The £200 is not taxable income so you either get it if under 35k or it is taken back in whole through their system, which possibly they have not set up yet. Would have made more sense to just make it taxable and get their money back off everyone except for those on really low incomes (under personal tax allowance).

Politically that would have been unacceptable - effectively back to square one !!

Only to rabid lefties.  Across the whole board probably the most acceptable and simplest to implement.

brewerdave

molerat said:

brewerdave said:

wrf12345 said:

The £200 is not taxable income so you either get it if under 35k or it is taken back in whole through their system, which possibly they have not set up yet. Would have made more sense to just make it taxable and get their money back off everyone except for those on really low incomes (under personal tax allowance).

Politically that would have been unacceptable - effectively back to square one !!

Only to rabid lefties.  Across the whole board probably the most acceptable and simplest to implement.

In view of Starmer's inability to stand up to his lefties about almost anything ??

Spoonie_Turtle

GibbsRule_No3. said:

matelodave said:

Is it correct that only 20% of the £200 will be taken anyway, so not worth opting out as I’d get £160 of the £200?

As far as I understand it HMRC will be recovering the whole £200 rather than just adding £200 to your annual income and taxing it at your marginal rate. So your tax code will be adjusted for 2026/2027 to recover it - approx £17 a month or £4 a week

look here - https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-much-youll-get

I wonder how much it is costing to recover the entire £200?  Sounds like a lot of work for the few people eligible for WFA but also earning over £35,000. Is there a way for finding out? 

All 2 million of them.

The government reckons it'll cost "around £1.25 billion in England and Wales and see means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment save around £450 million, subject to certification by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) compared to the system of universal Winter Fuel Payments."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nine-million-pensioners-to-receive-winter-fuel-payments-this-winter

[On the face of it that seems to make no sense but what do I know, I'm not a politician.  Thank goodness.]