High-earning pensioners targeted by Osborne to pay off his deficit
George Osborne is expected to announce the results of a Treasury inquiry into pension taxes on 16 March [Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP].
Why would they do this? Tories are attacking pensioners!
They have raised the age at which pensions may be claimed, again and again; they have introduced changes that mean anybody currently aged 40 or below will receive less in their pension payouts; they have threatened pension-related benefits like the winter fuel payment (although they have yet to go through with that one).
Now we see that George Osborne – who would like to be a future prime minister – is using pension taxes as a source of easy profit (that’s what a “milch cow” is) – and has already creamed off more than £5 billion a year from current pensioners, with a promise of more pain to come on March 16, it seems.
This is not what we mean when we call on the government to tackle tax avoidance.
It’s time senior citizens woke up and realised they are being exploited by the party they trusted to keep them safe.
George Osborne is using pension taxes as a “milch cow” to pay off the deficit, the head of the Institute of Fiscal Studies has said.
The chancellor is expected to announce the results of a Treasury inquiry into tax on pensions in the budget on 16 March. Among the changes being considered is the replacement of variable tax relief on pension contributions with a single, flat-rate of between 25% and 33%, which would cause high earners to lose some of their rebates.
Paul Johnson, director of the leading independent thinktank the IFS, said: “The tax regime has been changed and changed again as pension savings have proved something of a milch cow for the current chancellor.
“By reducing the amount that can be put in a pension free of tax in any one year and the maximum size of the accumulated pot, he has increased tax revenues by more than £5bn a year.”
Source: Pension taxes are ‘milch cow’ for chancellor, says IFS head | Politics | The Guardian
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hmm Margaret Beckett why doesnt she cross the floor with the rest of the blairites
Trouble is pensioners stick with their chosen party as if its a football team, thats why Osborne’s betting he’ll get away with it – come hell or high water, pensioners will generally still go out and vote tory – I don’t want to wish people dead but until a certain generation is gone I don’t see this changing – it defies logic, its utter stupidity, but they’ve always voted tory, so they always will vote tory
It’s about time tat Gideon started to attack the rich pensioners but he gives no assurance that such funds will be used to help the poor and vulnerable instead they will just go to support his chums.
I honestly think that by attacking rich pensioners in this way, the tories will finally meet their Waterloo and hopefully those pensioners will still be about in 2020 when it comes time to vote at the next election.
I think it is amazing that people believe that all pensioners are Tory supporters. That may have been the case in the 50’s and 60’s but most pensioners today have been penalised by successive Tory governments throughout their working lives, just as much as everyone else. To assume that we will support these greedy, fascist millionaires with their eugenic beliefs is insulting to a large proportion of thinking pensioners.
Perhaps someone should start an organisation – Pensioners Opposed to Tories. Then, whenever any Conservative talked about increasing “the pension pot” we could put forward “POT pensioners” to tell them they are liars.