The tax free Christmas Bonus has been a thing since 1972, and it currently sits at £10 – which is the same as it was when it was first introduced over 50 years ago
Millions of people need to make a check now before the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays it’s Christmas bonus next month.
The DWP will once again deliver a Christmas bonus to millions of benefit claimants next month. The tax free Christmas Bonus has been a thing since 1972, and it currently sits at £10 – which is the same as it was when it was first introduced over 50 years ago.
The bonus is given to people claiming certain benefits during the “qualifying week,” which this year is from December 2 until December 8 – in just a few days. One of the most common misconceptions about the Christmas bonus is that all DWP and HMRC benefits get the money, but this is not the case.
This means that if they want to receive the cash, they will need to check whether they are claiming one of the qualifying benefits by the end of next week. Universal Credit – which has around 6.7million claimants across the UK – is not part of the list so those claiming won’t get the Christmas bonus.
The full list of 23 benefits benefits which qualify for the bonus include:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (paid for industrial injuries or War Pensions )
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid for industrial injuries or War Pensions )
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
Alongside claiming the benefit, you will also need to be living in – or be an “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the first week of December. The Christmas bonus is paid automatically and the payment should show up as “DWP XB” on your bank statements.
It’s important to know that couples can each get a £10 Christmas bonus if they each get a qualifying benefit. The DWP says those who haven’t claimed their State Pension – so have deferred it – and are not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits, will not receive the bonus. If you’re part of a married couple, in a civil partnership or living together as such and you both get one of the qualifying benefits, you will each get a Christmas bonus payment. If your partner or civil partner does not get one of the qualifying benefits, they may still get the Christmas bonus if both of the following apply:
- You’re both over State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week
- Your partner or civil partner was also present (or ‘ordinarily resident’) in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland during the qualifying week
And either:
- You’re entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit for your partner or civil partner
- The only qualifying benefit you’re getting is Pension Credit
