You can ask your MP to defend age-related tax allowances

Posted: March 26th, 2013

AMP chairman Tom Brown has attended his first National Pensioners Convention executive meeting and reports that among issues covered were the Pensions White Paper, women’s pensions, RPI/CPI, care provision, the bedroom tax and transport. And, of course, the Budget.

The recent Budget confirmed the freeze on and eventual phasing out of the age-related personal tax allowance. The necessary 100,000 petition signatures have been reached – after we posted it on our website: “It can’t have been a coincidence!” says Tom – and it’s hoped there will be a debate in the Commons on Monday, April 29.

Affiliates such as the AMP and supporters are asked to inform their MPs of the likely date of the debate, ask them to take part in it and support the case for the age-related personal tax allowance to be unfrozen.

You can find contact details of your MP here: http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

The full NPC budget report and more can be read at http://npcuk.org

Here’s an edited extract:

From April 2013, the basic personal allowance for income tax for those aged under 65 will rise to £9440, and is planned to reach £10,000 by next year’s Budget.

However, the Chancellor has frozen the age-related personal tax allowances for someone aged 65 to 74 at £10,500, and for someone aged 75 or more at £10,660, until they align with the standard personal allowance.

On current trends, this is likely to be around 2015. Thereafter, the allowances will rise in line with CPI.

This means that those retiring after April (born after April 5, 1948) will therefore receive a lower personal tax allowance of £9440.

This measure is expected to save the Exchequer £3.3bn by 2016/17, and according to Treasury figures will result in 4.4m existing tax-paying pensioners losing an average of £80 next year, while future pensioners will suffer a loss of around £197.

By contrast, those earning more than £150,000 a year will see their tax drop next April from 50 per cent to 45 per cent – giving them an extra £10,000 windfall.