Rachel Reeves warned to keep away from pensioner tax bombshell | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Campaigners have warned Rachel Reeves that taxing the state pension can be a “fundamental mistake”. Dennis Reed, director of over-60s marketing campaign group Silver Voices, handed in a petition with greater than 117,000 signatures to Downing Street forward of the Chancellor’s spring assertion on Wednesday.

He stated: “We’ve submitted a petition to stop the state pension being taxed. 660,000 older people were brought into the tax system last year because the tax thresholds are frozen. The longer they stay frozen, the more older people come into the system. We’re getting to a situation now where state pension entitlements, like widow’s pensions and additional earning pensions, are all being taxed. It’s outrageous because you contribute your national insurance and tax throughout your working life in order to get a state pension. “

Describing it as a “fundamental mistake”, he added: “To tax it again is a double whammy.”

The marketing campaign group fears older folks on modest incomes might be pulled into paying revenue tax resulting from triple lock will increase and frozen thresholds.

Silver Voices has referred to as for the private allowance for pensioners to be raised by £1,000 subsequent month, then consistent with the triple lock going ahead.

It has been frozen at £12,570 till 2028, however the brand new state pension is catching up because it is because of improve to £11,973 subsequent month.

Under the triple lock, the state pension rises annually by whichever is highest out of two.5%, inflation, or common earnings progress.

And the state pension might surpass the private allowance from as early as subsequent yr if there’s a triple lock enhance of 5% or extra in April 2026.

But if it doesn’t exceed the edge subsequent yr, it’ll the yr after because the triple lock means there might be an increase of a minimum of 2.5% in April 2026 and a pair of.5% in April 2027.

Frozen thresholds have already seen a whole lot of 1000’s of older folks dragged into the taxman’s web.

The variety of pensioners paying revenue tax rose from 7.85 million in 2023/24 to eight.51 million in 2024/25, a rise of 660,000.

A Treasury spokesman stated: “We are committed to help our pensioners live their lives with dignity and respect, which is why we have frozen fuel duty and increased the state pension to leave pensioner couples up to £88 better off a month. Our commitment to the triple lock means millions will see their pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament.”