Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Budget reference 4.167 on State Pension and Simple Assessment, whether the Government conducted an impact assessment of delivering the measure on an opt-in basis rather than through universal provision.

The State Pension is taxable income along with other pension income. The Budget confirmed that the basic and new State Pension will be uprated by 4.8% in 2026-27, in line with our commitment to the Triple Lock. This means pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not pay income tax in 2026-27.

The Budget announced that the Government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.

The Government will set out more detail next year.