Winter fuel payment may be reinstated for state pensioners who have one document

THE IFS CALLED ON THE LABOUR PARTY GOVERNMENT TO "CREATE A NEW MEANS-TESTED SYSTEM" 06:13, 03 Jun 2025 The £300 Winter Fuel Payment may be reinstated for state pensioners with

income under a certain level after the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) began movements to reinstate it. The IFS called on the Labour Party government to "create a new

means-tested system", adding: "The government could allow households not on PC to apply directly for WFP, reporting their income and other circumstances, enabling it to apply a

means-test with a higher eligibility threshold than PC. "The hassle of applying would no doubt result in many not claiming, and would imply a lot of administrative cost for what is a

fairly small benefit (average WFP entitlement is £242 per year; average PC entitlement is £4,300). VREAD MORE VIRUS WHICH KILLS '40% OF PEOPLE' REACHES SPAIN WITH MILLIONS OF UK

TOURISTS WARNED "A closely related option would be to do the equivalent of what is currently done for child benefit: allow all pensioner households to claim WFP, but then require those

who have income above a certain level to do a self-assessment tax return to pay some of it back in the form of a higher income tax charge. Article continues below "As with child

benefit, the most administratively straightforward way to do this would be to base the repayment on the income of the higher-income member of the household (rather than their total income),

creating a somewhat strange means-test; and again, there would be clear downsides in the form of administrative costs and non-take-up – it is time consuming for both taxpayers and the

government to fill in and assess self-assessment tax returns." Tom Waters from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) believes the simplest approach would be to scrap last summer's

policy change and "return to giving Winter Fuel Payment to all pensioners". During PMQs recently, Sir Keir Starmer said: "I recognise that people are still feeling the

pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners, as the economy improves. Article continues below "We want to make sure people feel those improvements in their lives moving

forward. That is why we want to ensure that as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments. "As the economy improves, we want to take measures that will impact

on people's lives, and therefore we will look at the threshold, but that will have to be part of the fiscal event."