Government Sets Pensioner Tax Trap at £35,000 Winter Fuel Payment Cliff-Edge – Guido Fawkes

Government Sets Pensioner Tax Trap at £35,000 Winter Fuel Payment Cliff-Edge

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Tory sources point out that government’s withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners on incomes of £35,000 and above actually creates an absurd marginal tax rate for any OAP whose income happens to be exactly £35,000. Presumably nobody in Whitehall has noticed this…

Since the payment isn’t tapered, the cliff-edge means creates a marginal rate of about 10,020% on the next £1 earned for those who hit the £35,000 bullseye. They’d be better off earning £34,999 and keeping their radiators warm with the generosity of taxpayer cash. Of course there’s also the issue of HMRC’s ancient record-keeping resulting in thousands of pensioners losing the payment unfairly because they’re on the wrong tax code. And good luck getting a human being to answer the phones over at HM Revenue and Customs…