Pensioners among the millions more being 'battered' by income tax

THE number of pensioners shouldering an income tax burden has risen by more than four million, official figures show.

- Sarah O'Grady

Some 8.5 million people aged 65 and older are now income taxpayers - an increase of around 10 per cent in the past year, according to HM Revenue & Customs data.

The number has doubled since 2004-05 when just under 4.3 million pensioners paid income tax.

And this tax year there will be 35.9 million people of all ages paying income tax - an extra 4.2 million on the 31.7 million paying in 2020-21.

This means a £30billion boost to Treasury coffers by 2028 costing each UK household the equivalent of £4,200.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "Britons are being battered by stealth taxes.

"Frozen income tax thresholds are contributing to falling living standards during a cost-of-living crisis.

"The Government should give taxpayers a break and raise thresholds in line with inflation."

Income tax thresholds are frozen until 2027-28 under a policy introduced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was Chancellor in 2021, and then extended by the current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

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