A new petition has been lodged on the Parliamentary website calling for the Labour Party government to increase the Personal Tax-Free Allowance to £14,000 for everyone. The petition, submitted by Geoffrey Lawson, argues that raising the income tax personal allowance from its current level of £12,570 to £14,000 would cover the State Pension and put all state pensioners, including older pensioners who have paid into SERPS or the State second pension, on an equal footing until the end of this Parliament.
Petition Details
The petition states: “Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £14,000 to cover the State Pension. This will put all State pensioners, including older pensioners who have paid into SERPS or the State second pension, on an equal footing until the end of this Parliament.” It criticises the Chancellor’s proposals, which only benefit those receiving the new State Pension, as creating an unfair system that discriminates against older pensioners who contributed to SERPS or the second state pension.
Government Response Threshold
If the petition garners 10,000 signatures, the government will respond. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament. A previous petition with nearly 120,000 signatures called for a new tax code for state pensioners set at double the basic threshold, but the government rejected it, stating that doubling the Personal Allowance for pensioners would be untargeted and costly.
Background
The earlier petition argued that pensioners with small private or workplace pensions are being taxed unfairly. In response, the government maintained that the State Pension is the foundation of support for pensioners and that a fair tax system is a priority, but doubling the allowance for pensioners alone would not be a cost-effective approach.
