Pensioners pay tens of billions in income tax

PENSIONERS PAID a £24bn total income tax bill in 2015-16, analysis from a mutual insurer has found.

Within this, about £21bn came from England, nearly £1.7bn was from Scotland, more than £800m came from Wales and more than £400m was from Northern Ireland, according to Royal London.

It made the findings following analysis of a Freedom of Information response from HM Revenue and Customs, as well as using data from published sources.

The tax paid by pensioners would be on various sources of income, such as employment, selfemployment and property.

Royal London found that between the mid-1990s and the mid-2010s, the number of taxpayers aged over 65 has nearly doubled – from 3.32m in 1995-96 to 6.49m in 2015-16 – the most recent year for which detailed figures are available.

It is estimated that the number has broadly stabilised since then, and stands at about 6.37m in 2018-19, Royal London said.

Sir Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London, said: “With talk of requiring pensioners to pay national insurance on any earnings or even pensions, the older population may start thinking of themselves as ‘Generation still taxed’.”