Labour U-turn as ministers vow pensioners won’t be hit by tax when state pension tops £13,000

LABOUR was yesterday forced to promise the elderly will not be hammered by a “granny tax”. Chancellor John Healey is drawing up Budget plans to ensure pensioners are not punished when the triple-lock pushes the annual state pension above £13,000 next year. Labour was yesterday forced to promise the elderly will not be hammered by a ‘granny tax’ when the state pension rises above £13,000 – above the £12,570 threshold Credit: Getty John Healey is drawing up Budget plans to protect pensioners from a tax hit Credit: Reuters Tax becomes payable at the current threshold of £12,570. But if a pensioner has no other income they will not be penalised. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Retirees with other money sources will still pay tax. New figures showed the state pension is likely to go up by 3.9 per cent next year, the same rate as wages. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith hit out, saying: ‘Pensioners will spend their last years filling tax returns or on the phone to HMRC’ Credit: PA Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially refused to rule out the retirees paying tax on the state pension next year. But pensions Minister Torsten Bell said pensioners who only just exceed the personal allowance will not have the “administrative burden” of paying small amounts of tax this Parliament. One Andy Burnham ally, economist Andy Haldane, told LBC that money markets “now suspect that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos”. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith hit out, saying: “Pensioners will spend their last years filling tax returns or on the phone to HMRC. Most read in The Sun “Labour will tax everything – from your holiday to Granny’s pension.” The government faces huge fiscal pressures from high borrowing costs, the Iran war fall-out and welfare costs, such as the state pension rise under the triple lock mechanism. Comment now