They are annual cash grants range from £100 to £300 depending on age and household circumstances.
Eligibility for the payment is also based on income. Someone whose personal income exceeds £35,000 during the relevant tax year will have to repay the amount in full.
Based on HMRC figures, around one in five pensioners has income over £35,000, Business and Accounting Daily reported.
The government said that almost two million people are expected to repay their winter 2025 payment due to their annual income being more than £35,000.
The tax authority cannot confirm one’s final income until the tax year ends, but Winter Fuel Payments need to be issued before the winter season.
The system thus works by paying everyone of qualifying age first and then contacting those who turn out to be above the income threshold later.
Generally, the money owed to the tax authority is paid back automatically through the tax system.
The tax office adjusts the individual’s tax code in the 2026 to 2027 tax year and the repayment appears as an underpayment. This means that the individual will have slightly higher tax deductions each month.
The government has urged pensioners to be alert to Winter Fuel Payment scams.
It said that HMRC saw more than 25,000 Winter Fuel Payment scam referrals over the last 12 months. It warned that scammers may now use the recovery process as a hook to use texts, emails and phone calls to target this cohort.
HMRC’s Chief Customer Officer Myrtle Lloyd said: “Criminals are great pretenders and often use fake letters, emails, calls and texts to impersonate HMRC and trick people into giving them money.”
HMRC will does not contact people by text or email to ask them to repay their Winter Fuel Payment or to request bank details.