Pensioners Overwhelmed by ‘Retirement Tax’ Bills Flood HMRC Call Centres
HMRC Commissioner Sir Jim Harra said the agency had poor customer service and long waiting times on the phone for queries from elderly citizens worried about their income tax. The decision to cap the starting tax rate at £12,570 left older workers on state pensions and those on smaller incomes acing tax returns.
In addition, the frozen 40% income tax rate of £50,270 meant many elderly people were forced into this higher rate because of financial hardship. When questioned by the Accounts Payable Committee (PAC) about the poor performance of HMRC’s call centres, Sir Jim Harra defended the agency’s performance, arguing that the freezes and the state’s first introduction of tax law had led to more work.
He said: “The state pension is always a source of income from tax, but it is true that the combination of the frozen tax credit and the triple closure means that more and more pensioners are finding that their total income is sufficient to pay for their pension. income tax
Sir Jim put the increased enquiries down to the continuing “higher” levels of HMRC services, and said: “That is one of the reasons why our client base is lower than we thought. Yes.
