Today’s Budget was never going to rekindle the nation’s love for a Government which has put us through the equivalent of taxation hell to get the economy through the pandemic – and the financial mayhem that Liz Truss’s disastrous term as prime minister caused.

It didn’t, although Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt was on rather good form as he spelt out a path towards lower taxes – about time too, I hear you say – in between goading ‘two homes’ Angela Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader.

Yet I am sure the nation’s mighty army of pensioners felt a little aggrieved about falling through the Budget’s cracks. Indeed, the country’s near 13 million pensioners hardly got a mention in Mr Hunt’s one hour (and more besides) long speech.

Instead, Mr Hunt chose to focus on helping families and those in work. Understandable to a degree, but a dangerous tactic, given the propensity of many pensioners to vote blue rather than red.

Of course, beholden (bizarrely) to the flawed number crunchers at the Office for Budget Responsibility (thank you George Osborne), Mr Hunt was never ever going to be able to blow us all away with a fanfare of tax cuts which I am sure he would have loved to have done.

Jeremy Hunt delivering his budget today, spelling out a path towards lower taxes

Jeremy Hunt delivering his budget today, spelling out a path towards lower taxes

But what he did offer up – a further 2p cut in National Insurance (NI) contribution rates to add to the 2p reduction announced in last year’s Autumn Statement – was divisive and alienating.

In opting for NI cuts, rather than a reduction in income tax, he excluded those pensioners in receipt of state pension from his largesse. As pensioners have kept reminding me since November when Hunt announced wave one of the NI reductions, those who get the State Pension don’t pay NI. But many of them – indeed more than ever because of Mr Hunt’s multi-billion-pound stealth tax raid – pay income tax.

Maybe Mr Hunt will put this ‘wrong’ right later this year if the Government, as widely reported, holds another ‘fiscal event’ ahead of an Autumn Election, paving the way for more inclusive income tax cuts.

But then, maybe, he won’t – some politicians and commentators are even suggesting a snap May election with a promise to cut income tax rates enshrined in the Conservative Party’s manifesto.

It can be argued that pensioners have already been treated quite royally by Mr Hunt. Next month, under the ‘triple lock’ promise, the state pension will rise by a thumping 8.5 pc to £11,501 per annum – ahead of inflation currently running at around 4 pc.

Only around half a million pensioners get the full ‘new’ state pension while those who became eligible before 2016 get an inferior ‘basic’ deal

Only around half a million pensioners get the full ‘new’ state pension while those who became eligible before 2016 get an inferior ‘basic’ deal

Brilliant, yes, although let’s not get too carried away. Only around half a million pensioners get the full ‘new’ state pension while those who became eligible before 2016 get an inferior ‘basic’ deal.

Also, let’s not forget that it was pensioners who had the triple lock guarantee taken away from them in 2022, post pandemic.

Yet the biggest scourge by far for pensioners is Mr Hunt’s freezing of the personal allowance at £12,570 until 2028. As pensioners’ incomes have risen above this amount, they have been drawn (dragged) into paying income tax. The number of pensioners who pay income tax is set to hit a record 8.5million this year, up from 4.5million in 2010.

For many pensioners, the financial outlook is a tough one, but it’s not all doom and gloom.

On the bright side, inflation – as Mr Hunt said in his Budget speech – is heading down below 2 pc, reducing the pressure on household finances. An extension of the fuel duty freeze for another year will also help elderly drivers mitigate the continued inflation-busting increases in their insurance premiums.

Furthermore, there are steps pensioners can take themselves to safeguard their finances and wealth. These include shopping around as a matter of course for services such as broadband, insurances, mobile phone contracts and best savings deals. Too many pensioners remain loyal to companies which have long stopped providing them with value for money. LOYALTY DOES NOT PAY.

Also, far too many pensioners on low incomes do not claim benefits that can help buoy their household finances – for example, pension credit. Don’t be shy or embarrassed, see if you are eligible and claim it: https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility

Finally, ensure any cash savings or investments you have are fully protected from income tax and capital gains tax. That means shielding them inside tax-friendly Individual Savings Accounts.

In the current tax year ending on April 5, you can put a maximum of £20,000 into an Isa – and the same again come April 6 (£5,000 more if the new ‘British’ Isa is up and running in time). That money then grows free of tax – and can be subsequently withdrawn without incurring tax.

That Isa money will be protected from tax under this Government – and (hopefully) the next one.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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