Accumulated grievances

KEY POINTS

• Number of retired people is increasing.
• Multiple notices of coding.
• Age-related personal allowances to be abolished.
• Effect of low interest rates.

The tax affairs of pensioners probably do not feature highly on the client list of fee-earning accountants and tax advisers in professional practice.

The exceptions to this are retired individuals who own landed estates or substantial property portfolios have large investment funds and/or have retired with a big pension.

Having said that pensioners’ tax tends to throw up its own particular difficulties often highlighted by the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group.

Lower income pensioners can seek advice from charities such as TaxAid TOP (Tax Help for Older People) and the Citizens Advice Bureau in this respect. It should be noted that the number of pensioners in the UK...