This makes me so cross!

Hithere the tax rates are lower now than they were when we, the older generation were both working.

Yes, both of us.

Shinamae, I too don't think it's fair to pay tax on pensions. It seems unjust to me to penalise those who have done their bit in life, only to find that they have money taken from them in retirement. This should be a time to kick back and relax, and enjoy the life that is left to us. Money shouldn't be taken from us like this in our Third Age.

I don't think it's fair to pay tax on all private pensions. I think the threshold should be higher. My mam and dad did without so that they could pay into the Superann scheme. I know they got a slight tax reduction when they paid it but now my mam seems to be punished for having been thrifty. She not only pays tax but also has to pay for the dentist. Her sister and BIL didn't save. They went out every weekend, had a car and had holidays in hotels. Now my aunt gets her rent and council tax paid and gets extra benefits that mam doesn't qualify for because they're means tested. For example although they both get the winter fuel allowance, my aunt gets an extra payment if the weather is below a certain temperature for seven days in a row. Mam doesn't get that payment even though she needs to keep warm too.

We did get tax relief on private pension contributions though.

Can't have tax relief at both ends! We don't pay tax on the State pension because it isn't enough to bring anyone into the tax bracket.

We dont pay NI contributions after receipt of the State Pension either.

I do see your point about your mum and aunt, vampirequeen.

I hadn't realised that NI wasn't paid after the state retirement age had been reached Callistemon; nice surprise when I got my salary!

I have no private pensions

YABU I just can't see why paying about £45 a week income tax makes you cross?

If its income its taxable, end of. It's what we should do. I've been paying a lot more than that , in Spain on my pensions

I think it's right to pay tax on pensions - it's still income and £12,000 is a reasonable sum to receive tax-free.

The proportion of pension age people to younger people is getting bigger and if all those people on pensions don't pay tax on income above £12,000 how are all the public services (which older people need to use, the same as everyone else) to be paid for?

State pension does not exceed £12.5k, so theoretically you don't pay tax on your state pension.

That’s true about the Aussie state pension. An Aussie friend of ours (over 80) gets nothing. He’s comfortable enough, but certainly not loaded.

On the point about NI contributions - you do pay a contribution if you are self-employed.

Or did and I never heard the end of it till dh retired completely!

I am taxed on my late DH's pension, my teachers pension, and my state pension...

Then, cumulatively, those 3 pensions must total more than £12,500 per annum otherwise they would be under the personal allowance threshold.

Chardy, wrong my state pension certainly exceeds £12,500. The difference is added to another pension for tax purposes

I can’t wait till my 66th birthday, when I’ll finally get my state pension and become a taxpayer again. I’ll be more than happy to pay my dues.

I don't think anyone's State Pension in the UK is anywhere near £12,500 pa, is it?

Witzend I only know of one elderly relative who gets a State Pension in Australia.
The means tested threshold is quite high and includes any assets.

Chewbacca DH was pleasantly surprised too, he thought if he carried on working then he'd have to pay NI.

My State Pension is just under £10,000 and I had the full number of years and I paid full stamp all that time. Some of this time was contracted in and some contracted out.

I do know someone who gets £250 a week, Callistemon, from the old system with SERPS added. He’d never paid into another pension though.

Vq the issue of someone missing out on State benefits because they’ve paid into a private pension which takes them over the earnings or savings threshold is different from the issue of a pension being taxed.

As several others have said, what you pay in pension contributions isn’t taxed. So it’s only right that any income from them, over and above your tax-free allowance, should be.

But the problem you raised is a very real one. People who have been prudent and gone without to provide for themselves miss out on benefits compared to others who have not.
But I’m afraid that’s what a ‘safety net’ is all about, unfair though it might sometimes seem.

i thought if you working ,and you get a pension ,you allowed to work 16 hours and no more ,after that you get taxed.

No moggie, the number of hours you work isn't the issue. It's what your paid for any number of hours that you work. You could, in theory, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but so long as the pay that you receive for those hours worked, plus what you receive for your state pension, doesnt exceed £12,500 a year, you will not pay income tax.