On 16 June 2025, ICB advised about the 2025 return of the Winter Fuel Payment in England and Wales, hopefully to be mirrored in Northern Ireland. Whilst this will be paid to all, HMRC will recover this payment from individuals via PAYE (the tax code) or Self-Assessment where their systems indicate the income is over £35,000 in the tax year.
We pointed to the fact that the Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland will not be paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as it is now devolved to Social Security Scotland and renamed the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment. The Scottish Government had pledged that this will be a universal payment and had not indicated means-testing in respect of income.
On 18 June 2025, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed that legislation will be made in the Scottish Parliament to mirror the recovery mechanism (by HMRC where income is over £35,000). The amounts of the payment will differ, however, the important point to relay is that HMRC will put in place the same means-testing to recover the payment:
1. If the individual is within PAYE, HMRC will adjust the tax code; or
2. If the individual is within Self-Assessment, HMRC will increase the Income Tax liability
For Bookkeepers
Scotland are following England and Wales with the HMRC-recovery method and it is good to have consistency there. The fact that the values are different is a consequence of the Winter Fuel Payment being devolved from the DWP to Social Security Scotland and renamed the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.
We hope that Northern Ireland will follow suit to maintain UK-wide consistency.
