The Government has announced that War Widow(er)s recognition payments will be tax free. This follows the Government’s announced in May that payments of £87,500 will be made to War Widow(er)s who forfeited their entitlement to a pension for a service attributable death prior to 2015 and have not had this pension restored through divorce or subsequent bereavement. The Government has explained that the payment is not intended to put a value on a person’s loss, but instead be an amount that clearly recognises that remarriage or cohabiting with a new partner does not erase the bereavement, as the Government is deeply conscious of the sacrifice these bereaved people have made.
These payments will be exempt from income tax and National Insurance contributions. This will ease the administrative burden on recipients who are a specially designated group who benefit from a key principle of the Armed Forces Covenant, which recognises that special consideration should be made by the nation to those, such as the bereaved, who have given most in the service of our country.
Heather Wheeler MP says:
“This is truly great news. A number of constituents who have lost loved ones over the years in the service of our nations have contacted me on the treatment of bereaved partners of service men and women who have died whilst on duty. The tax on these payments seemed to undermine the point of them.”
