Winter Fuel Payment 2026: will HMRC take it back?

If you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you should get a Winter Fuel Payment of £100 to £300 this winter without doing anything. Letters saying how much you will get go out in October and November, and most payments are made in November or December.

The question most people are asking now is the second half: will HMRC take it back? Since winter 2025 the payment has no longer been limited to people on Pension Credit and other benefits, but if your own total income for the year is over £35,000, HMRC recovers all of it through the tax system. HMRC's own estimate is that around 2.2 million people are affected, and for many of them 2027 is the year two winters are collected at once.

Who gets it and how much

What you get depends on your circumstances in the qualifying week, 21 to 27 September 2026, which has now passed, and on when you were born. GOV.UK sets these amounts for winter 2026 to 2027:

The payment is tax-free and does not affect your other benefits. You do not need to claim if you get the State Pension, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Attendance Allowance, PIP, Carer's Allowance, DLA, income-related ESA or a few other benefits. If you get none of them, you need to claim if you have never had a Winter Fuel Payment before or you have deferred your State Pension since your last one. Claims for this winter opened on 21 September 2026.

If you have had no letter, or the money has not arrived by 27 January 2027, contact the Winter Fuel Payment Centre.

When HMRC takes it back

HMRC recovers the payment if your own total income is over £35,000 in the tax year you receive it. For this winter's payment that is the tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. Three details catch people out:

• It is your income alone. Your partner's income does not count, so in a couple one person can keep their payment while the other repays theirs
• There is no taper. If your income is over £35,000, even by a pound, you repay the whole payment, not part of it
• It is your total income before deductions for the whole tax year, not just your State Pension. HMRC's online checker, linked from the GOV.UK Winter Fuel Payment guide, asks for all the income you expect in the year and tells you whether it is over the threshold and how HMRC will take the payment back

How it comes back through your tax code

If you pay tax through PAYE, on a workplace or private pension or on wages, and you do not file a Self Assessment return, HMRC collects the payment through your tax code. HMRC will tell you by email or post, and the tax taken from your pension or pay goes up. If HMRC cannot collect the full amount during the tax year, you get a tax calculation letter.

If last winter's payment is being taken back, that is already happening in the current tax year. HMRC estimated about £17 a month for a £200 payment.

Why some people will pay back two winters at once

HMRC is moving to collect each payment in the same tax year it is paid, instead of the year after. To catch up, the two overlap:

• If HMRC is already collecting your 2025 payment, your tax code changes in January 2027 to start collecting the 2026 payment as well. GOV.UK's example puts it at roughly £30 to £33 more tax a month when both payments were £200
• In April 2027 your code changes again, to finish collecting the 2026 payment and start collecting the 2027 payment in advance, unless you opt out of the 2027 payment
• From the 2028 to 2029 tax year, HMRC expects deductions to settle back to about £17 a month for a £200 payment

If you fill in a Self Assessment return

If your income is over £35,000 and you file a Self Assessment return, you pay it through your tax bill instead of your tax code, and you must include the payment on your return for each year you get it. If you file online, HMRC will usually fill it in for you as the 'Winter Fuel Payment charge', so check it is there. If you file on paper, you add it yourself.

That matters now, because last winter's payment goes on your 2025 to 2026 return, due by 31 October 2026 on paper or 31 January 2027 online. This winter's payment goes on your 2026 to 2027 return.

If you use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, you cannot pay it back through your software. After you submit your tax return, HMRC writes to tell you how much to pay and how, so wait for that letter before paying.

If you are dealing with the estate of someone who has died, received a Winter Fuel Payment and had income over £35,000, it is usually paid back when the estate's debts and taxes are settled.

If you think HMRC has got it wrong

Your tax code is based on the income HMRC expects you to have. If it has been changed to collect the payment but your total income for the year will be £35,000 or less, for example because you stopped work or your pension changed, or you were getting one of the benefits above in the qualifying week, check the details HMRC holds. You can update your estimated income through HMRC online services or the HMRC app, and if your tax code needs to change HMRC will issue a new one. If you help an older relative with this, they can register you as a trusted helper.

Opting out, and opting back in

In England and Wales, opting out of this winter's payment closed on 20 September 2026. If your income is over £35,000, opting out makes no difference to how much you end up with: you either never get the payment, or you get it and HMRC takes it back. What it avoids is the change to your tax code.

Once you opt out, you stay opted out in future years until you opt back in. If you opted out and your income for the year turns out to be £35,000 or less, you can still get this winter's payment by contacting the Winter Fuel Payment Centre before 31 March 2027. Check GOV.UK before next September for the dates to opt out of winter 2027 to 2028.

Scotland: a different payment, the same take-back

Winter Fuel Payment is not paid in Scotland. Social Security Scotland pays the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment instead: between £105.55 and £316.70 for winter 2026 to 2027, depending on your household. You qualify if you had reached State Pension age by the end of the same qualifying week, 21 to 27 September 2026, and most people are paid automatically.

The £35,000 rule works the same way, with HMRC recovering the payment through your tax code or Self Assessment. The difference is the timing: in Scotland you can still opt out of this winter's payment online on mygov.scot or by calling Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222, before midday on 19 October 2026.

Northern Ireland

Winter Fuel Payment is paid in Northern Ireland with the same eligibility rules as England and Wales, the same £100 to £300, and the same HMRC take-back if your income is over £35,000. Opting out of this winter's payment has closed. nidirect says you will be able to opt out of the winter 2027 to 2028 payment from 21 December 2026, and that you can opt back in for this winter by contacting the Winter Fuel Payment Centre before 31 March 2027.

Where to get help

The Winter Fuel Payment Centre is on 0800 731 0160, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. In Scotland, contact Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222. For the tax side, HMRC's online checker on GOV.UK shows whether your income is over the threshold and how the payment will be taken back.

Not sure where you stand?

If your tax code has changed and you want to check it is right, our free HMRC & Self Assessment checker takes you through it. For what else you can claim this winter, try the UK Benefits Checker. Pension Credit is worth checking in its own right, and people getting it in the qualifying week keep their Winter Fuel Payment whatever their income.