Is a widow's pension taxable?

Is a widow's pension taxable? A survivor's pension paid by the scheme is taxed as income at any age, as is the State Pension; a war widow's pension is not.

"Widow's pension" is used for several different payments, and they are taxed in different ways. Someone who has lost a husband, wife or civil partner may be looking at a pension from the late partner's employer, an income drawn from their pot, an extra amount added to the State Pension, a bereavement payment from DWP, or a war widow's pension. Which of them applies decides the tax. If you want someone to go through which of these you receive, the form on this page wants just a name and number, costs you nothing, and leads to a call back about them from an FCA-authorised adviser.

Six payments, six tax answers

This table sets out the general UK position for the 2026/27 tax year.

Anything taxable is counted with your other income for the tax year, and tax arises only on the total above your Personal Allowance; the standard allowance is £12,570 for 2026/27, according to GOV.UK's income tax rates page.

Private pensions: what the scheme pays, and what comes from a pot

A pension paid by the scheme is taxed at any age

A defined benefit scheme, such as a final salary one, usually pays a pension to a surviving spouse, civil partner or other dependant rather than a pot to be shared out. GOV.UK says a pension from a defined benefit pot is usually payable only to a dependant, for example a husband, wife, civil partner or child under 23. What a scheme pays is set by its own rules; the final salary pension guide explains the basics.

Tax law treats this as pension income. Section 579A of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA) applies to "any pension under a registered pension scheme", and section 566 charges tax on pension income. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual (PTM072110) says the person receiving a dependants' scheme pension "is liable for Income Tax on the amount they receive, as pension income", that the payer deducts it under PAYE, and that such a pension carries no right to a tax-free lump sum. A dependants' scheme pension can come from a money purchase arrangement as well as a defined benefits one, and the same treatment applies.

The under-75 rule does not reach this kind of pension. GOV.UK's table of inherited pension tax lists a pension provided by the scheme, defined contribution or defined benefit, as taxed at any age of death. Any lump sum the scheme also pays follows separate tests, covered with the other inherited payments; the wider picture is in the pension death benefits guide.

Income drawn from a pot: the late partner's age matters

Where the partner had a money purchase pot, the survivor may instead take drawdown income or buy an annuity with it, and then the age of the person who died decides the tax. HMRC's manual (PTM072430) says a dependant's income withdrawal from a flexi-access drawdown fund created on or after 6 April 2015 is taxable if the member was 75 or older at death. It is not taxable if the member had not reached 75 and, where the fund includes money the member had never drawn ("unused uncrystallised funds"), the dependant designated it inside the "relevant two-year period". That clock starts on whichever comes first: the date the scheme administrator learned of the death, or the date it could reasonably have been expected to learn of it.

For an annuity, tax-free payments also need the member to have died on or after 3 December 2014 and no payment to have been made under the contract before 6 April 2015 (PTM072210, ITEPA section 646B), and the same two-year limit applies to an annuity bought with money the member had never drawn. Where an annuity is taxable, it is charged at the recipient's marginal rate through PAYE. The inherited pension tax guide covers the two-year window in more detail, and the joint life annuity guide covers annuities that carry on to a survivor.

The provider can confirm which rule it has applied to the income. Contact details are the only thing the form on this page requests, and an adviser authorised by the FCA then rings to go through the provider's paperwork with you.

The State Pension, bereavement benefits and the war widow's pension

The State Pension is taxable income, although it is paid in full with nothing taken off first, according to GOV.UK's guide to how pension tax is paid. ITEPA section 577 treats it as pension income and lists the old "widow's pension" and "widowed parent's allowance" in the same group. The full explanation is in is the State Pension taxable?.

In some cases a widowed person who reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 can inherit an extra payment on top of the new State Pension, which is "paid with your State Pension" (inheriting or increasing State Pension), so it counts towards your total income. The conditions are on inheriting additional State Pension; one is that a person who remarries or forms a new civil partnership before State Pension age will not be able to inherit anything.

On the tax-free side, GOV.UK's list of state benefits that do not attract income tax includes Bereavement Support Payment, lump-sum bereavement payments and the War Widow's Pension. The legislation agrees for the first of these: ITEPA section 677 says no liability to income tax arises on the benefits in its Table B, and "Bereavement support payment" is a row in that table. It replaced the older bereavement benefits, including the Bereavement Allowance (previously the Widow's Pension).

Those older benefits are taxable. Someone whose partner died before 6 April 2017 may still be getting Widowed Parent's Allowance, which sits on the taxable side of the same list beside the Bereavement Allowance. Claiming a widow's pension and how long it lasts have their own guides.

For the war widow's pension, ITEPA section 639 says no liability to income tax arises on pensions and allowances paid by or on behalf of the Ministry of Defence that relate to death due to service in the armed forces, wartime service in the merchant navy, or war injuries. The rates, the allowances and the means-test position are on war widow's pension rates.

How the tax is collected, with a worked example

A scheme or insurer paying a survivor's pension normally operates PAYE: it deducts tax from each payment and, at the end of the tax year, gives you a P60 showing the tax taken. Because the State Pension arrives gross, the tax on it is usually collected through the tax code on your private pension or job; with several payers only one takes it, and each may have its own code.

Illustration, worked on 20 October 2026. Suppose a widow in England has a survivor's pension of £7,000 a year from her late husband's employer scheme and a State Pension of £10,000 a year. Both are round figures chosen for the illustration, not rates. For the 2026/27 tax year, with the standard Personal Allowance of £12,570 and a basic rate of 20% (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), the working is:

1. Total income: £7,000 + £10,000 = £17,000.
2. Income above the allowance: £17,000 - £12,570 = £4,430.
3. Tax at the basic rate: £4,430 x 20% = £886.
4. Survivor's pension left once the scheme has collected all of that: £7,000 - £886 = £6,114.

Step 4 assumes the scheme is the payer that collects the tax on the State Pension too, which GOV.UK says private pension providers usually do. A different mix of income, a second pension or a wrong tax code would give a different split. In Scotland, Scottish Income Tax applies to pension income as well as wages, and its rates and bands differ from those used here.

Emergency codes and refunds are covered in inherited pension tax and claiming back overpaid pension tax; are pensions taxed? explains how different pensions combine.

Questions people ask about tax on a widow's pension

If my husband died before 75, is my survivor's pension tax-free?

Not necessarily. A dependants' pension paid by a scheme is taxed whatever age the member died. The under-75 rule applies to annuities and drawdown from a defined contribution pot, and then only if its conditions, including the two-year timing for money not yet in drawdown, are met.

Is a widow's pension taxed at source?

A scheme or insurer paying a taxable pension deducts tax through PAYE before paying you. The State Pension is paid with nothing taken off, and Bereavement Support Payment and the war widow's pension carry no income tax.

Do I have to tell HMRC about a widow's pension?

GOV.UK's guidance after a partner's death says to tell HMRC about Widowed Parent's Allowance or Bereavement Allowance. It says there is no need to report income that your employer taxes through PAYE, income from a private pension, or Bereavement Support Payment.

Does a widow's pension affect tax credits or other benefits?

Tax and benefits are separate questions. Bereavement Support Payment will not affect your benefits for a year after the first payment, and what counts as income for means-tested help is covered on whether a widow's pension is means-tested. The war widow's pension has its own section on that point in war widow's pension rates.

Talking it through with an adviser

The mix of payments, your other income and the tax code applied can all change the bill. For a widow juggling several of these payments, an FCA-authorised adviser can ring to discuss each one and the tax code behind it; that call is booked, free, through the form on this page. The scheme, HMRC and DWP can also answer questions about their own payments; related reading is on nominees and beneficiaries and the State Pension.

Sources: GOV.UK, Income Tax: tax-free and taxable state benefits; Tax on a private pension you inherit; Tax when you get a pension; Bereavement Support Payment; Your benefits, tax and pension after the death of a partner; The new State Pension; Income Tax rates; Scottish Income Tax; HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM072110, PTM072210, PTM072430; ITEPA 2003 ss566, 577, 579A, 639, 646B, 677 (legislation.gov.uk). Read 20 October 2026.