HL Deb 05 April 2004 vol 659 cc199-200WA
Lord Morris

of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answers by the Lord Bach of 4 and 5 March (WA 1540 and 1542), whether they will consider relaxing the burden of taxation on war widows by reclassifying benefits to a service person's dependants as compensation rather than income. [HL1937]

Lord Bach

In setting the level of the benefits paid to widows and widowers under the new Armed Forces Compensation Scheme due account has been taken of the taxable nature of income payments. It would not be appropriate to seek to reclassify them.