Proposals to link tax thresholds to the pension 'triple lock' will ensure up to 18,000 in the Wallasey constituency will never pay income tax on their State Pension.
After committing to protect the Triple Lock earlier this year, the Conservatives will go further to boost pensioners’ incomes if they win the next election.
In addition to increasing the State Pension in line with the highest of prices, earnings, or 2.5 per cent (whichever is higher), the tax-free personal allowance for pensioners will also rise by the Triple Lock – guaranteeing that the State Pension is always below the tax-free threshold.
This means that pensioners will never pay income tax on their State Pension, as the Conservatives continue to deliver on their clear plan to provide dignity and security in retirement.
As a result of the Triple Lock Plus, the average pensioner will see an increase in the State Pension of £428 next year alongside an income tax cut of £95. By the end of the Parliament, it will be a boost of £1,677 a year to their pension and further £275 a year tax cut.
The Conservatives first introduced the Triple Lock in 2011, which has seen the State Pension increase by more than £3,700 since they entered office – which is £990 more than if it had been increased by prices, and £1,000 more than if it had been increased by earnings since 2010.
So far, Labour have refused to back the Triple Lock Plus - meaning that by 2027, thousands of pensioners in Wallasey, Moreton, Upton and Saughall Massie will be dragged into paying income tax on their State Pension for the first time if they entered government.
Mel Stride, Pensions Secretary, said:
A Conservative government is the only one which can provide pensioners the peace of mind in retirement they deserve.
Labour’s record speaks for itself. The last Labour government waged an all-out assault on pensioners, with a £118 billion pensions tax raid and an insulting 75p increase to the state pension.