Hundreds of thousands of pensioners face being pulled into the tax net as the State Pension edges ever closer to the threshold at which the taxman comes calling.
New figures show around 820,000 retirees will be liable for income tax on their State Pension alone by 2027/28 – the inevitable result of frozen tax thresholds colliding head-on with a pension that rises by law every year. The warning lands just as Britain prepares for its second Prime Minister of this Parliament.
Incoming Labour leader Andy Burnham has reassured the country’s 12 million pensioners that the manifesto commitment to the Triple Lock “stands”, so putting him in step with Keir Starmer, the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The ongoing commitment to the triple lock mechanism has driven the basic State Pension up by more than 80% since 2011.
But behind the cross-party truce lurks a tax trap that ministers of all colours will struggle to dodge. At the same time, there is a growing clamour from politicians and think tanks to end the pledge amid claims the government can no longer afford it.
Frozen thresholds close in
The personal allowance – the amount you can earn before paying a penny of income tax – has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021/22 and shows no sign of moving. The full new State Pension, meanwhile, has crept up to £12,547.60 a year – just £23 short of that threshold.
It means even the Triple Lock‘s bare-minimum 2.5%rise would be enough to tip the pension over the tax-free limit in 2027/28, so dragging in pensioners who rely on the State Pension alone and have never paid tax on it before.
Whitehall is now weighing up plans to deduct tax directly from pension payments, rather than billing pensioners after the fact. But critics warn a ‘tax now, refund later’ system risks leaving pensioners short-changed if the taxman takes too much upfront – only for it to be handed back weeks or months down the line.
Maike Currie, VP Personal Finance at PensionBee, said: “The challenges over taxing the State Pension highlight just how complicated the interaction between the Triple Lock and frozen tax thresholds has become. Any changes need to be carefully designed so pensioners pay the right amount of tax without creating unnecessary complexity or confusion.”
The £30-a-week question
Since it was introduced in 2011, the Triple Lock has guaranteed pensioners a rise every year in line with whichever is highest: inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5%.
As a result, the basic State Pension has soared from £102.15 a week in 2011/12 to £184.90 a week today, comfortably outpacing the roughly 65% rise in the cost of living over the same period.
Today’s full new State Pension of £241 a week is reckoned to be around £30 a week – or 14% – higher than it would have been had it simply tracked average wages since 2011.
That generosity comes at a price. State pension spending has climbed from 3.5% of the size of the entire economy at the turn of the millennium to around 5% today – making it the second-biggest single item of Government spending, beaten only by the NHS.
Young versus old?
The row over pension costs lands just as ministers grapple with an equally alarming crisis at the other end of the age scale. Official figures show more than a million 16 to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training in the first quarter of this year – the first time that grim milestone has been breached since 2013. The youth unemployment rate now stands at 16.2%.
A Government-commissioned review led by former minister Alan Milburn has already sounded the alarm over a “generational fault line,” warning Britain risks creating a “lost generation” of young people frozen out of work.
But Ms Currie rejected any suggestion of a straight fight between young and old. She said: “It’s important not to present the Triple Lock divisively, as a choice between supporting pensioners and supporting younger people. Rising youth unemployment and the growing number of young people who are not in education, employment or training are complex, structural challenges that require targeted solutions.
“Pensioners also need protection against inflation, particularly those who rely heavily on the State Pension and have limited private pension savings, so any reforms to the Triple Lock should be carefully considered and accompanied by a clear, credible alternative that gives people confidence to plan for the future.”
Don’t bank on it lasting forever
For all the political love-in over the Triple Lock today, pensioners have been warned not to take its survival for granted.
Ms Currie added: “The ongoing Triple Lock debate is a reminder that pension policy can and does change. We’ve seen reforms to the State Pension age, National Insurance and tax allowances over the years. While the Triple Lock remains in place today, no government can guarantee what the system will look like decades from now.
“The State Pension provides an important foundation, but it shouldn’t be the only pillar of retirement planning. Building up a private pension gives people greater choice, flexibility and financial resilience, regardless of how future governments choose to reform the system.”