Taxpayers completing their 2025–26 Self-Assessment returns should be aware that HMRC may include adjustments to recover Winter Fuel Payments and calculate tax due under the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
These changes could result in an unexpected increase in the amount payable, particularly for pensioners and families who have previously received payments without any tax being deducted. Although HMRC is introducing arrangements to include relevant information automatically in online tax returns, taxpayers remain responsible for checking that the figures are correct.
Recovery of Winter Fuel Payments
From the 2025–26 tax year, pensioners with total annual income exceeding £35,000 will generally have to repay their Winter Fuel Payment, or the equivalent Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in Scotland.
The recovery is made through a tax charge equal to the full amount received, rather than by simply taxing the payment at the individual's marginal Income Tax rate. Consequently, someone with income of £36,000 who received a £200 Winter Fuel Payment would normally face an additional £200 tax charge, subject to the applicable exemptions.
For taxpayers completing an online Self-Assessment return, HMRC intends to include the relevant charge automatically wherever possible. However, the figure should be checked and added manually if it is missing. Anyone submitting a paper return must include the relevant information themselves.
Pensioners who do not complete Self-Assessment returns will generally have the payment recovered through adjustments to their PAYE tax codes, although the precise timing of recovery may differ.
Child Benefit adjustments
Taxpayers who received Child Benefit, or whose partners received it, should also check whether the High Income Child Benefit Charge applies.
For 2025–26, the charge begins where the higher-income partner's adjusted net income exceeds £60,000, with the full amount of Child Benefit generally recoverable when adjusted net income reaches £80,000.
HMRC is now including Child Benefit information automatically in some online Self-Assessment returns, but this does not remove the taxpayer's responsibility to establish whether the charge applies and whether the information is accurate.
Importantly, the charge can arise even where the person liable did not personally receive the Child Benefit payments.
Check before submitting your return
These adjustments mean that taxpayers should not assume their Self-Assessment liability will be similar to previous years, even where their income has hardly changed.
Anyone affected should check the relevant payment information, confirm whether the income thresholds apply and ensure that any amounts already being recovered through the tax system are correctly accounted for.
If you received Winter Fuel Payments or Child Benefit during 2025–26 and are uncertain whether an adjustment is required, please contact us before submitting your return. We can review your circumstances, check the calculations and help ensure that you do not overlook a liability or pay more than is due.
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