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An online petition urging the UK government to raise the income tax personal allowance for all working Brits and state pensioners from £12,570 to £20,000 has so far gained 259,454 signatures.
David Allan Frost, who started the petition, said: “We think it is abhorrent to tax pensioners on their state pension when it is over the personal allowance. We also think raising the personal allowance would lift many low earners out of benefits and inject more cash into the economy, creating growth.”
The petition’s web page has been updated to say that parliament debated the topic on May 12, 2025, and a response was given earlier on February 20. To be debated, a petition needs 100,000 or more signatures, and the final date for signatures is June 20, 2025.
The response said: “The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility, and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.
“The Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost of many billions of pounds per annum.”
Another petition calling on the Labour government to stop Brits paying tax on their state pension has been signed by 6,042 people. David Bresnahan, who registered the petition, said: “We think it is wrong to tax the state pension.”
The full state pension pays £230.25 per week, or £11,973 a year. Pensioners on the basic state pension, which only requires 10 years of National Insurance contributions rather than 35, get £176.45 per week. If pensioners have no additional income, it is unlikely they will pay tax as the personal tax allowance starts at earnings of £12,570 or more.
Some older pensioners may pay tax on their state pension because Brits who retired before April 2016 were part of a system that included the additional state pension or state earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS).
Pension experts at Spencer Churchill Claims Advice suggest that the petition underscores a broader issue concerning the tax system’s treatment of the elderly.
“There’s growing frustration among pensioners who feel that taxing the state pension, after a lifetime of National Insurance contributions, is fundamentally unfair,” said a spokesperson from Spencer Churchill. “While many retirees don’t exceed the personal allowance, a rising number with modest private pensions are being pulled into the tax net. The current petition reflects a wider call for reform.”
