@Andy I asked the question to an AI bot and the reply is below, not sure if any use or not ----------- In the UK, it depends on the type of benefit: some benefits are taxable and count towards your total taxable income, while others are completely tax‑free and do not get added on top of your wages for income tax purposes. You are always taxed on the total of your taxable income sources, not just your wages. Taxable vs tax‑free benefits Some state benefits are specifically classed as taxable, for example things like the State Pension, contribution‑based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Carer’s Allowance. These are added to your earnings (wages, self‑employment, pensions, etc.) and the combined figure is what HMRC uses to work out if you are over your personal allowance and which tax band you fall into. In your £2,000‑a‑month example, if you were getting a taxable benefit on top, it would normally be added to that £2,000 to calculate tax. Other benefits are explicitly tax‑free, such as Housing Benefit, Income Support in many cases, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Child Benefit (though high earners may face a separate charge), and similar support payments. These tax‑free benefits are not added to your wages when working out income tax, so you would only pay income tax based on your £2,000 salary (plus any other taxable income), subject to your personal allowance. Personal allowance still applies Everyone who is UK‑resident and under the very high‑income taper usually has a personal allowance (currently £12,570 per tax year) on which they pay no income tax. That allowance covers taxable income only; it does not need to cover tax‑free benefits because those are ignored for income tax. So if your total taxable income (wages plus any taxable benefits) stays within the personal allowance, you will not pay income tax, regardless of how much additional tax‑free benefit income you receive. If you tell HMRC or your employer which benefits you receive, they adjust your tax code so that the right overall amount of tax is taken across both earnings and any taxable benefits. For a precise answer in your situation, the key is to check whether each specific benefit you claim is on the “taxable” or “tax‑free” list and then add only the taxable ones to your £2,000 when working out your tax.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
Benefits and tax	03/12/25 09:28:00	Andy Pike
Re:Benefits and tax	03/12/25 10:15:00	Barbara Stevens
Re:Benefits and tax	03/12/25 10:21:00	Michael Brigo
Re:Re:Benefits and tax	03/12/25 12:09:00	Andy Pike
Re:Re:Benefits and tax	03/12/25 12:10:00	Andy Pike

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