Restoration of the age related allowance

seven-day-weekend

I agree with Margaret Clare and Dunstonh on this, although I am a State Pensioner. I do not pay any tax so it does not affect me. My husband will be one of the first hit, he is 65 in January 2014 and is a taxpayer, and will still be one when he receives his State Pension..

I have never quite understood why someone should get a higher tax allowance just for being a different age to someone else.

I am a floating voter and had I have known about this before the election it would have made no difference to my Liberal Democrat vote (yes....I know!).. Were there a general election now I would vote Conservative. Nothing will make me vote for a party 'led' by Ed Miliband.

spenderdave

I currently am below the tax threshold, but will be drawing my deferred company pension in 2014, at which point I become a tax payer again. Although in real terms the cutting of the age related allowance is pretty small in real terms, I object to the way this was sneaked through in the budget. I have signed the petition more on a case of principle. All these little 'perks' you get as you get older - bus pass, free prescriptions etc - this is just another one they have taken away. Been paying my contributions all my life yet never drawn a single penny in benefits, so removing this is just another snub. Wonder what will go next...

CannySaver_2

spenderdave wrote: »

I currently am below the tax threshold, but will be drawing my deferred company pension in 2014, at which point I become a tax payer again. Although in real terms the cutting of the age related allowance is pretty small in real terms, I object to the way this was sneaked through in the budget. I have signed the petition more on a case of principle. All these little 'perks' you get as you get older - bus pass, free prescriptions etc - this is just another one they have taken away. Been paying my contributions all my life yet never drawn a single penny in benefits, so removing this is just another snub. Wonder what will go next...

What else have they taken away?

Why should you pay tax later than others just because you have hit 65 or 75?

I agree the way in which is was announced as a "simplification" was patronising in the extreme, and the fact they did it at the same time as cutting higher rate tax was not good politics, it looked like a rushed, last minute change to me. But nevertheless it is a small change and better than many of the alternatives, plus it is offset by other things such as the triple lock, flat rate state pension etc. Furthermore everyone is being squeezed: removal of family allowance for many, cuts in benefits, pensions moving from RPI to CPI, bands reduced so more people pay higher rate tax, increase in VAT etc etc, to a great degree pensioners have been shielded from these fiscal changes, it was simply their turn this time around to get hit.

The Canny Saver

MonkeyMad

I always considered that paying my tax and NI was in some way to help run the services for the country and in an idealistic moment to provide me with some level of support should, God forbid, I not be able to earn an income. I now see that it is actually a savings scheme whereby if I haven't claimed benefits I should actually get some back through tax allowances despite being eligible for all manner of other allowances like free prescriptions, bus passes etc that aren't classed as 'benefits'.

I'm fortunate to have paid more tax than a great many people will have done so again I ask, should I be entitled to have a larger personal allowance now so I can 'get something back'?

dunstonh

All these little 'perks' you get as you get older - bus pass, free prescriptions etc - this is just another one they have taken away.

What other perks have been taken away?

Everyone has to pay for the mess the country is in. It is well publicised that those in retirement are the least hit.

Been paying my contributions all my life yet never drawn a single penny in benefits, so removing this is just another snub

Your contributions and the benefits you obtained from them have not been changed. There is no link between them. However, when you paid your contributions in your working life, the personal allowance was much lower than it is today in real terms. So, are you suggesting that in fairness you want your personal allowance lowered to reflect what it was when you paid your contributions?

Jennifer_Jane

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, I fall within the £10,500 - £28,400 band (I get about £12,000 pa) with no other help (apart from the winter fuel payment and not paying NI, of course). Whereas I understand that working families on that level would be getting some breaks such as working tax credits and so on. So why should they get tax breaks and I shouldn't just because they are working and I am not? We are both taxpayers.

On the other hand, I do think we are all in this together; I did support the removal of the 50p tax bracket as it apparently cost more than it generated; I did vote Conservative and would do so again, as I think they are the ones to get us out of this mess. Plus I have a long memory, and whilst I wasn't here for the taxing of pension fund dividends, I do remember the 10p fiasco, which has not been restored under this Government.

So, on balance, I think I may sign the petition as workers on my income level do get tax breaks and help if they have children. I am also disgusted by Osbourne's bragging about the CPI rate increase, which is a statutory link (in line with the triple lock), as if that makes up for it, we were getting that anyway).

Just to mention: people must work out their own tax liabilities, as when you move onto the over-65 tax break (actually at age 64 as its the tax year in which you are 65), a letter comes from HMRC which assumes you are on over £24,000 (sic) and the personal allowance is changed accordingly. You have to tell HMRC if this is incorrect, and I wonder how many pensioners do work their PA out and tell HMRC.

MonkeyMad

You are talking about ways to claim money back. If you were to work enough hours a week you could also claim tax credits, but you're not, so you can't. We are asking why should you be allowed to keep more untaxed income due to your age.

mirabelle

e-Petition on "restoration of the age related tax allowance " has now jumped to 37,476 signatures on the government website. Looks like a debate in the House will be called for if it continues at this speed. Should reach the required 100,000 mark very quickly.

RichandJ

mirabelle wrote: »

e-Petition on "restoration of the age related tax allowance " has now jumped to 37,476 signatures on the government website. Looks like a debate in the House will be called for if it continues at this speed. Should reach the required 100,000 mark very quickly.

Only if it is taken up by an MP and gets past the Backbench Business Committee:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/backbench-business-committee/

It doesn't automatically get a debate just because it reaches 100k signatures.

dunstonh

RichandJ wrote: »

Only if it is taken up by an MP and gets past the Backbench Business Committee:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/backbench-business-committee/

It doesn't automatically get a debate just because it reaches 100k signatures.

Plus if it is getting debated as part of the overall finance act (or whatever act it comes under) then it may well be decided that it has already had a debate.