A new loophole in the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility rules for 2025 means state pensioners can still get paid the benefit even if they earn £100,000 - and won't have to pay it back in tax either. Under new rules announced by Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves for this coming winter, the £200 or £300 Winter Fuel Payment is no longer based around Pension Credit, and instead is given to everyone, and then taken back via tax from those earning over £35,000 a year.

But because of quirks of the new system, there is a way that even state pensioners earning £100,000 can keep their Winter Fuel Payment this year without having to repay it in tax. The Winter Fuel Payment rules do take into account who you live with, so if you are in a couple, the payment is paid to one person to cover both in the couple.

According to Age UK, if you're a state pensioner over 80, you will be paid £300 if you live alone, and £200 if you live with another state pensioner aged under 80. You get £150 if you live with another state pensioner over 80. If you're under 80, you get £200 if you live alone, and £100 if you live with another state pensioner who qualifies.

But because the qualifying £35,000 thresholds are based on individual incomes, a bit like the Child Benefit system, rather than household income, there are some scenarios in which someone with a £100,000 income will still receive a Winter Fuel Payment if their partner earns under £35,000.

However, a couple who both earn £36,000 each won't get to keep their Winter Fuel Payments, even though the total household income is much lower than someone else who does.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), posted on X: "WFP [Winter Fuel Payment] will now be paid at £100 to each member of a couple. So rich pensioner couples, where one has say £100k and the other £30k, will still get £100.

"If both members of the couple have £36k then they get nothing. Messy."