Who still gets the Winter Fuel Payment, and who pays it back

This is the time of year when the brown envelopes start landing on doormats. A retired couple in Shropshire open theirs and find they will each receive a Winter Fuel Payment in the next few weeks. A neighbour two doors down, still doing some consultancy work on top of a decent workplace pension, gets the same letter. By next year, one household will have kept the money and the other will have seen it quietly taken back through the tax system.

That split comes from the rules first used for winter 2025 to 2026 and carried into this winter. The payment again goes to most people over State Pension age, but HMRC recovers it from anyone whose own income is above £35,000.

Who qualifies for winter 2026 to 2027

According to GOV.UK, you can get a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026 to 2027 if you were born on or before 27 June 1960 and usually live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. What counts is your situation in the “qualifying week”, which this year was 21 to 27 September 2026.

Most people do not need to claim. Payment is automatic for people getting the State Pension or certain other benefits, a letter arrives in October or November, and most payments are made in November or December 2026. Exclusions include being in hospital getting free treatment for the whole of the qualifying week and the year before, or being in prison for the whole week. People in care homes can still qualify, unless they get Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance and have lived in a care home for the whole time from 29 June 2026 or earlier.

How much the payment is this winter

GOV.UK lists these amounts for winter 2026 to 2027:

• Living alone, or with nobody else who qualifies: £200 if you were born between 28 September 1946 and 27 June 1960, or £300 if born before 28 September 1946.
• Living with someone who also qualifies, neither of you on Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related ESA: usually £100 each, or £150 each if you were both born before 28 September 1946.
• On one of those benefits: £200 or £300 depending on age, with one payment on a joint claim.
• Living in a care home (and not excluded): £100, or £150 for the older group.

The payment is tax-free and does not affect other benefits.

The £35,000 line, and whose income counts

GOV.UK states that if your total income is over £35,000, HMRC will take your Winter Fuel Payment back. Two details matter. The test is personal: your partner’s income does not count towards your total. And the figure is your total income for the tax year before any deductions, which for this winter means 2026 to 2027 (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027). HMRC’s check tool on GOV.UK shows whether it expects to recover your payment.

The rules set no sliding scale. Someone with £34,900 of income keeps the payment; someone with £35,100 does not.

How HMRC takes the money back

1. PAYE on a pension or wages: HMRC will usually adjust your tax code so a little more tax is deducted each month, and writes to you when it does. If it cannot collect everything within the tax year, it sends a tax calculation letter.
2. Self Assessment: the amount goes on your tax bill. You include the payment on your return for each year you receive it; online returns usually show it as a “Winter Fuel Payment charge”.
3. Making Tax Digital software: GOV.UK says you cannot pay it back through the software. HMRC writes with the amount and how to pay.

Timing can catch people out. If last winter’s payment is already being collected through your code, GOV.UK explains that a change in January 2027 can start collecting this winter’s payment, and a further change in April 2027 continues that and begins collecting the 2027 payment in advance. Its own example puts the extra tax at roughly £30 to £33 a month for someone repaying £200 for both years.

Someone with £34,900 of income keeps the payment; someone with £35,100 does not.

Three households, three different outcomes

Assumes nobody gets Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related ESA, and each income is 2026 to 2027 total income before deductions. Amounts follow the GOV.UK rates for this winter.

Margaret is well under the threshold and keeps her £200. Derek and Pat get £100 each because they live together and both qualify, but only Derek is over £35,000, so only his share is recovered, even though the couple’s combined income is £50,000. Arthur, born before 28 September 1946, receives £300 and repays all of it. In every case the payment arrives first and any recovery follows later.

Opting out, and opting back in

People who know their income is over £35,000 can choose not to receive the payment, which avoids the later tax adjustment. The window for this winter has closed (the deadlines were 18 September 2026 by phone and 20 September 2026 online), and GOV.UK says opting out for winter 2027 to 2028 opens from 21 December 2026. An opt-out carries forward until you opt back in. If your income has fallen, you can opt back in for this winter by contacting the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160 before 31 March 2027. The call is free.

If you live in Scotland

Winter Fuel Payment is not paid in Scotland. The Scottish equivalent is the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, worth between £105.55 and £316.70 for winter 2026 to 2027 according to mygov.scot, with letters going out from November 2026. The same £35,000 individual income rule applies, and HMRC recovers it from people above the line.

Who this matters for, and what to check

The rules matter most for people whose income sits near £35,000, those with uneven income such as part-time work or rental profit, and couples with very different incomes.

• Estimate your own 2026 to 2027 income before deductions and try HMRC’s check tool.
• When HMRC sends a new tax code, check any Winter Fuel Payment adjustment is there only if you are over the line.
• If you file Self Assessment, include the payment on your return.
• On a low income, check whether you could get Pension Credit; our guide to what Pension Credit can lead to explains the wider help.

Where this leaves most pensioners

For most pensioners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland nothing needs doing: the letter arrives, the payment follows, and it is theirs to keep. For people over £35,000 it works more like a short-term advance repaid through PAYE or Self Assessment, and opting out from December 2026 is the tidier route for next winter. Like this year’s State Pension increase, it is a figure to check against your own circumstances rather than one to count on.