PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pensioners: Income Tax (30 July 2024)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of people over State Pension age paid income tax at (a) the basic rate of 20%, (b) the higher rate of 40% and (c) the additional rate of 45% in the last financial year.

Asked by:
Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour)

The estimated number of people who paid Income Tax by marginal rate in the 2023 to 2024 tax year can be seen in Table 1 below:

Table 1: number of Income Tax payers over the State Pension age by marginal rate of Income Tax for 2023-24

	Savers Rate taxpayer aged 66 and over	Basic Rate taxpayer aged 66 and over	Higher Rate taxpayer aged 66 and over	Additional Rate taxpayer aged 66 and over
Population of SP aged Income Tax Payers	84,300	7,020,000	744,000	91,500

A Scottish Income Tax payer with any taxable non-savings non-dividends income within the Scottish starter and intermediate bands is classified as a basic rate Income Tax payer, as this is the top rate they are paying. A Scottish Income Tax payer with only savings and/or dividend income within this band is also classified as a basic rate Income Tax payer.

The proportions can be calculated using the 12.4 million estimate of individuals over the State Pension age in the UK. This estimate is based on the latest National population projections: 2021-based interim publication from the Office for National Statistics.

The estimates are based upon the 2021 to 2022 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Answered by:
James Murray (Labour)
5 September 2024