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Written question asked by Lord Balfe (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 4 August 2026. It was answered by Lord Pitt-Watson (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 August 2026 on behalf of the Treasury.

Pensioners: Income Tax

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of pensioners with income at or near the level of the state pension who are now liable for income tax as a result of the freeze in personal allowance thresholds.

Answer

The number of individual income taxpayers over State Pension Age can be seen in the table below[1]:

Tax year

Number of individual Income Taxpayers over State Pension Age

2023 to 2024

8,160

2024 to 2025*

8,780

2025 to 2026*

9,080

2026 to 2027*

9,580

*Projected estimates based on the 2023 to 2024 Survey of Personal Incomes using economic assumptions consistent with the OBR’s March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Outlook for the forecast period.

The previous Conservative Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028 and this is reflected in the numbers.

The current Government has set out that individuals whose only income is the basic or new State Pension, without increments, will not pay income tax over this Parliament. Further details on this will follow.

[1] Income Tax liabilities statistics: tax year 2022 to 2023 to tax year 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2380
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Income tax Pensioners
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk