HMRC to send £70 pension top-up to over a million
HMRC will contact over a million people, mostly women on lower incomes, who missed out on pension tax relief, with a £70 top-up.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
HMRC is to send a £70 pension top-up to more than a million people who missed out on tax relief because of the way their workplace pension scheme works. The payments, which could vary, are linked to a tax relief that many people may not have been aware of.
The tax authority will contact eligible people by letter or through their online personal tax account. People do not need to do anything, and HMRC will not contact them by text, email or phone. Any such contact should be treated as a scam.
Around three quarters of those affected are thought to be women, and the scheme is aimed at people on lower incomes, including those earning less than £12,570 a year. The top-up is expected to be around £70, though the exact amount may differ.
The move follows reports that many people missed out on pension tax relief because of how their employer's pension scheme was set up. HMRC is now correcting this.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| HMRC will not contact people by text, email or phone; those are scams. | |
| HMRC will send a £70 pension top-up to over a million people who missed out on pension tax relief, with letters sent to those not close to the £12,570 income threshold. | |
| The top-up is around £70, but the amount can vary. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
A brief, upbeat mention at the end of the bulletin, focusing on the surprise bonus and the income threshold. It does not include details about who is affected or any scam warnings.
- “could you be one of more than a million Brits due some money from HMRC?”
- “What a bonus.”
A more detailed segment with a dedicated reporter, framing the news as a rare positive from HMRC but with a strong warning about scams. It highlights that most affected are women and that no action is needed from recipients.
- “this time the letter could actually be some good news and money could be coming your way.”
- “around three quarters of the people affected are in fact women.”
- “If you get any of those, you are guaranteed it is a scam.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.