Helen Morgan stands up for pensioners ‘dragged’ into Income Tax

MP Helen Morgan stood up for pensioners in Shropshire as she challenged the Government over dragging older constituents into paying Income Tax.

Changes by Rishi Sunak have meant that much of the increase to pensions from the Triple Lock will be eaten away due to the freezing of the Income Tax threshold.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Helen asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether or not recent changes to pensions and tax thresholds were intended to have ‘dragged’ thousands in North Shropshire into paying Income Tax.

The MP called on the Government to back the Triple Lock before the last budget, when plans to abandon it were briefly put forward. The Government since recommitted to keeping it in place, but with the threshold freeze, many are not going to see the full benefit.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, asked the Minister, “I've been contacted by pensioners in my constituency who get a full state pension plus protective payments from the old scheme, and that has placed them over the threshold for paying income tax.

“The increase in their pension in line with inflation has been eaten away by being drawn into the personal allowance threshold.

“Was it the minister's intention that pensioners would be dragged into paying income tax in his budget?”

Nigel Huddleston MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, replied, “As I outlined previously and the Resolution Foundation members have pointed out, pensioners have in fact gained about £1,000 pounds on average as a result of the government's decision since 2010 to increase the threshold. Some pensions of course rely solely on the state for their incomes and we are supporting pensioners for a variety of other measures and of course not only the triple lock but pension credit and cost of living support.

“And pensioners across the country will benefit from this eight and a half percent increase which is coming in April.”