Millions of state pensioners, along with the rest of the UK, face spiralling tax bills this year and for several more years, all the way to 2031, after the government chose to freeze the tax-free Personal Allowance for another five long years. It means that, as wages or even state pension payments increase due to inflation or the triple lock, more people will be pulled into paying more tax on their earnings as they exceed the current frozen Personal Allowance limit of £ 12,570.
While Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an exemption for state pensioners who have only got state pension income – they won’t be made to pay tax if they break the threshold in future due to state pension payments alone – others who have income such as a private pension, property income or savings interest WILL have to pay.
That’s why state pensioners, as well as workers, should take advantage of fully legal tax breaks offered by HMRC in order to avoid losing money to Income Tax that they can legally keep.
There are several schemes that allow state pensioners to effectively increase their tax-free Personal Allowance.
One of the most lucrative is the Rent-a-Room Scheme. This allows state pensioners to rent out a room in their property for up to £625 a month, or £7,500 a year, and keep all rental income tax-free on top of their normal £12,570 Personal Allowance.
What’s more, a retired state pensioner couple could split this allowance boost between them, each taking an extra £3,750 of rental income and declaring it under Rent-a-Room.
This would allow each state pensioner to boost their tax-free Personal Allowance to £16,320 each.
You can, of course, opt out of the scheme and choose to have the rent-a-room income taxed normally. This might work out if you made a loss from doing this (perhaps you had to refurb the whole room after extensive damage), and you want to offset the loss against your tax burden on another buy-to-let property.
The government’s online advice explains: “The Rent a Room Scheme lets you earn up to a threshold of £7,500 per year tax-free from letting out furnished accommodation in your home. The threshold is halved to £3,750 if you share the income with someone else.
“You can let out as much of your home as you want. The tax exemption is automatic if you earn less than your threshold. Which means you do not need to do anything.
“You must complete a tax return if you earn more than your threshold.
“You can then opt into the scheme and claim your tax-free allowance. You do this on your tax return.
“You can choose not to opt into the scheme and instead record your income and expenses on the property pages of your tax return.”