The state pension is set to be taxed in just a few years time, according to HMRC rules and the current triple lock rate forecasts.
Alex Evans Deputy Audience Editor
21:09, 01 Aug 2025
Income tax bill for every state pensioner after triple lock boost(Image: Andrew Bret Wallis via Getty Images)
From 2027, every state pensioner will be faced with an income tax bill, irrespective of their earnings, as per HMRC tax regulations and the current triple lock projections.
The government is legally bound to annually increase the sum it disburses in pensions due to the triple lock scheme. Despite growing scrutiny as welfare costs surge, the triple lock was cemented as a Labour manifesto pledge and remains intact for the foreseeable future.
This stipulates that state pension payouts must rise in accordance with one of three measures: wage growth, inflation, or a fixed 2.5 percent, whichever of these three is greatest, each April.
Steve Webb, a partner at pensions firm LCP, has indicated that the state pension is set to surpass the personal allowance income tax threshold from April 2027 – specifically on April 6, marking the commencement of the new tax year. Consequently, even if a pensioner receiving the benefit had no other source of income, a portion of their state pension would be taxable by HMRC.
Based on current triple lock estimates, the precise amount a pensioner would be required to pay in tax would be a mere £1.60 from 2027, though this figure would incrementally rise each year in line with the triple lock increases, reports the Express.
Steve Webb clarifies: “This is because the triple lock formula provides a [minimum] floor of 2.5% increases, meaning the rate will rise at least £236 in April 2026 and £241.90 in April 2027. The April 2027 rate is £12,578 per year, just above the £12,570 tax threshold. This could mean hundreds of thousands of pensioners are taxed on just £8 per year, with a tax bill of £1.60. If tax-free personal allowance then rises by CPI but the state pension rises by more, then this situation will continue indefinitely.”
Pensioners currently face income tax obligations and have always done so, though you would require additional income streams – perhaps employment, occupational pension payments, or interest from savings – to push you beyond the threshold. Currently, nobody relying solely on state pension payments faces tax liability on these amounts – though this is set to alter down the line.
Should you not be employed through a PAYE scheme, HMRC will gather the tax directly and the revenue office will dispatch correspondence, rather than requiring self-assessment registration.
According to the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group: “If it is not possible for HMRC to collect the tax on your state pension through the PAYE system, and you are not otherwise required to complete a self assessment tax return, HMRC may instead send you a simple assessment calculation after the end of the tax year.”
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