Section 681I | Winter fuel payment charge ^F1

(1)A person (“P”) is liable to a charge to income tax for a tax year if—

(a)P is entitled to a winter fuel payment in respect of the qualifying week, and

(b)P’s total income for the tax year exceeds £35,000.

(2)The charge is to be known as the “winter fuel payment charge”.

(3)The amount of the charge is equal to the amount of the winter fuel payment.

(4)But P is not liable for the charge if P is entitled to a relevant benefit on any day in the qualifying week.

(5)The following are “relevant benefits”—

(a)income support under section 124 of SSCBA 1992 or section 123 of SSCB(NI)A 1992;

(b)an income-based jobseeker’s allowance under section 1 of JSA 1995 or Article 3 of JS(NI)O 1995;

(c)state pension credit under section 1 of SPCA 2002 or section 1 of SPCA(NI) 2002;

(d)an income-related employment and support allowance under section 1(2)(b) of WRA 2007 or Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007;

(e)universal credit under Part 1 of WRA 2012 or Part 2 of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015.

(6)In this section—

(a)a “winter fuel payment” means a payment under the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2025, the Winter Heating Assistance (Pension Age) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 or the Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025;

(b)the “qualifying week”, in relation to a tax year, means the week beginning on the third Monday in the September of that tax year.