Key facts
- Thousands of UK retirees who delayed claiming their state pension may be excluded from an income tax waiver.
- The state pension is expected to rise above the personal allowance next April, potentially making it taxable.
- The government plans to exempt individuals whose sole income is the full state pension from income tax.
- Those who deferred their state pension and built up extra payments might not qualify for the exemption.
- This could lead to hundreds of pounds in unexpected tax bills for affected retirees.
Thousands of UK pensioners who delayed claiming their state pension are likely to be excluded from a new income tax waiver, experts have warned. The state pension is set to rise above the personal allowance next April, potentially pushing millions into paying income tax for the first time. While the government has stated that individuals whose only income is the full state pension will not be taxed, those who have accumulated additional payments by deferring their claim may not qualify for this exemption. This distinction could amount to hundreds of pounds and may deter some people from deferring their pension in the future. According to the latest figures obtained by Royal London, nearly 42,000 people who had deferred their state pension went on to claim it in the 2023-24 period.