Pensioners could be the biggest losers in tomorrow’s Autumn Budget, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Robert Salter, a Director at the firm, said: “Pensioners, particularly those who are continuing to work after they have reached retirement age will be amongst the biggest losers from the various tax rises the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves is expected to announce.
“Many of the tax changes that have been rumoured in the run-up to this Budget could impact pensioners in particular. The so-called ‘mansion tax’, which might increase the council tax charges on people who own properties in council tax bands F to H, could be disproportionally painful for pensioners who have lived in their property for many years and are asset rich but income poor.”
Robert added, “Other changes, such as the potential increase in the scope of National Insurance Contributions (NIC) to include letting income or imposing it on people who continue to work after having reached state retirement age of sixty-six would also hit a high number of pensioners. Current estimates suggest over 1.1 million pensioners are continuing to work after they have reached retirement age.
“These changes would be on top of a number of other decisions that Governments, both Conservative and Labour, have taken in recent years which impact pensioners. Such as the removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance for some pensioners and the freezing of the personal tax thresholds since 2021, which has bought more and more pensioners into tax or higher rates of tax, where they were already taxable.
“While there are no ‘easy tax rises’ for Rachel Reeves, it will be interesting to see whether she does go forward with these changes, as anything that does impact pensioners disproportionally may be quite controversial at a time when the Government is facing numerous challenges both economically and from a wider political perspective.”
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