Dear Editor,
Pensioners do not pay National Insurance.
So the Chancellor’s announcement that if re-elected, the Conservatives would aim to abolish National Insurance, would not benefit pensioners by a single penny.
However, the £46,000 million per year cost of this unfunded policy – almost exactly the same size as Liz Truss’s disastrous £45,000 million of unfunded tax cuts – could have serious implications for pensioners.
With income tax thresholds frozen by Rishi Sunak until 2028 while pensions increase in line with inflation, there will come a point where pensioners with small or even zero occupational pensions find that their total pension income exceeds the income tax threshold and they will be forced to start paying income tax and complete tax returns.
Those with larger occupational pensions, who already pay income tax on the top slice of their income, will pay tax on an increasing proportion of it.
The absurd Tory plan to abolish National Insurance at immense expense, giving no benefit to pensioners, means recouping the lost revenue through income tax which pensioners do pay, making them worse off, as well as increasing the pressure to cut pension credit and the NHS which pensioners rely on.
But this is of little concern to a Government led by the likes of Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron.
Yours,
Phil Tate
Chester
After the vote, the changes will affect everyone not just one group