Army widow's relief following victory in battle against plans to tax pension payment

Her pension payments ceased when she married current husband Dave Rimmer in 1989.

The government eventually changed the rules in 2015, however, the new criteria denied the pension to anyone who remarried prior to 2005.

Following years of campaigning, around 400 widows and widowers were awarded a one-off payment of £87,500 in May.

Although news of the award was widely welcomed, there was dismay when the government announced the payment would be subject to income tax and national insurance (NIC) deductions.

Mrs Rimmer, from Otley in West Yorkshire, said she had fought for her pension rights as a “matter of principle” and was relieved when the government announced this week that the requirement to pay tax has been withdrawn.

“I know it's a lot of money and I'm grateful, but I think to tax us on it was totally wrong because a war widow's pension doesn't get taxed. It just seemed wrong,” she told the News Letter.

“No amount of money would compensate for what we have gone through. We were just forgotten – tossed aside really. It's nice now to be acknowledged.”

Mrs Rimmer said her first husband is never forgotten and is still very much a part of her children's and grandchildren's lives.

“I know they never met him, but we go down to the cemetery, and we go to Remembrance Sunday and we lay a wreath, and we put flowers on his grave, so he's never forgotten.”

Announcing at Westminster this week that the payments would not be taxed, a Treasury spokeswoman said: “Special consideration should be made by the nation to those, such as the bereaved, who have given most in the service of our country.”

Kenny Donaldson of SEFF has welcomed the latest development.

“We along with others had made the case robustly since the scheme was announced in Parliament, that government needed to re-examine the issue – that it was particularly unsavoury to award widows(ers) £87,500 of a reparation payment in one hand and then propose to take up to 40% back from them in the other hand,” he said.

"This will offer some solace to a section of war widows(ers) particularly those who are aged. The scheme should open as soon as possible enabling older war widows(ers) to apply and secure an award, thus offering some immediate relief to them. However, we are clear that there remains to be a number of issues which the government must move to resolve in tandem with the opening of the scheme.

"The core issues are; the lack of focus within the scheme upon the missing years of pension for those impacted, which in some cases amounted to over 30 years, there must be recognition of this and financial acknowledgement made for this.”

Mr Donaldson also said the government now needs to re-examine its “flawed formula” used to calculate the amount of compensation – that recipients have a projected lifespan of just 10 years.