Government committed to ensuring state pensioners exempt from income tax

George Thompson, Press Association Political Staff

The UK Government is committed to making sure pensioners whose only income is their pension will not pay income tax, the Treasury has said.

From next year, thousands of pensioners could be drawn into paying income tax for the first time, unless the freeze on the personal tax allowance is raised.

However, a Treasury spokesperson confirmed that the Government is committed to ensuring anyone whose only income is the state pension will not pay income tax.

This commitment, first reported by the i Paper, will see the new Chancellor John Healey stick to his predecessor’s pledge.

The state pension is liable to income tax, but generally pensioners whose only income is the state pension have not had to pay any.

This is because the full state pension for the current financial year is £230.25 a week – which falls below the personal tax allowance of £12,570 a year.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “Anyone whose only income is the full new or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay income tax and we are committed to that over this Parliament.

“By keeping the Triple Lock, 12 million pensioners will see their income rise by up to £470 this year, and they continue to benefit from the highest Personal Allowance in the G7.”

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