Winter fuel allowance

[ReganAndCarter]

I'm sure Mick and Elton can manage. Millionaires and billionaires shouldn't be getting £300 from hard working tax payers, some on minimum wage.

What was the percentage of millionaires who received the winter fuel allowance?

Why are you fixated with Sir Mick and Sir Elton?

Would have been easy to deny the few millionaires getting WFA - just stop anyone paying higher rate tax from receiving it. But no, Keir Stalin took it from some of the poorest senior citizens. Some who should be claiming pension benefit, but aren't.

 

[Justin Passing]

I'd guess that most of those that don't claim it are not bothered if they get it or not.

This is not available to anyone so well off that they wouldn't be bothered. Pension credit is available to those getting less than £218 a week, iirc.
Anyone in thet category is likely to care whether they get it, and a WFP would be vey welcome around Christmas.

--

But what is this payment, is it a state benefit in the standard pension package or in the extra-help category.
Invalidity benefit (= PIP) is also currently a non-means-tested "right". That's under scrutiny too.
I get some of that, but I don't even notice it.
Not everyone needs the State Pension either, so how about cutting pensions if you're deemed to be too wealthy?

The argument comes down to policy decision about which payments are means tested and which are not.
As long as there's a fuzzy border, people will argue and/or feel cheated.

So, HMG, sort it.

 

[JohnD]

What was the percentage of millionaires who received the winter fuel allowance?

You mean "millionaires receiving a state pension?"

Is the answer "all of them?"

 

[JohnD]

Some who should be claiming pension benefit, but aren't.

You as well.

So you are, in a muddled way, trying to say that there are people who should qualify for Pension Credit but have not applied for it.

The £300 winter fuel payment is the least of their problems.

Paying £300 to people who don't need it will not solve it.

 

[Justin Passing]

You mean "millionaires receiving a state pension?"

Is the answer "all of them?"

So as I just asked, should billionaires get the state pension?

 

[ReganAndCarter]

You mean Labour are honouring a pledge made by Boris Johnson in COP26

Yes, but he wasn't taking the money for it from pensioners with the other hand.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

The £300 winter fuel payment is the least of their problems.

Agree. What will old Two Tier be taking from them next?

Triple lock?

Mr Starmer, pension snatcher!

 

[denso13]

What was the percentage of millionaires who received the winter fuel allowance?

The OBR state that almost 30% of pensioners live in millionaire households. They should not be getting a handout from people on minimum wage, through the tax system.

Most others below a million do not need it either.

 

[noseall]

Agree. What will old Two Tier be taking from them next?

Tax?

 

[JohnD]

Yes, but he wasn't taking the money for it from pensioners with the other hand.

You mean "taking away a taxpayer handout to people who don't need it?"

Are you seriously in favour of paying benefits, intended for people in need, to people who are not in need?

Seriously?

What next? A free doughnut issue to the obese?

 

[Mottie]

The OBR state that almost 30% of pensioners live in millionaire households. They should not be getting a handout from people on minimum wage, through the tax system.

Some of this big old millionaire households cost a fortune to heat in winter….

 

[Mottie]

You mean "taking away a taxpayer handout to people who don't need it?"

What about your personal tax allowance, your savings interest allowance, your ISA tax free savings allowance etc etc all funded by the taxpayer? Do you 'need' them?

 

[Mrs Ten Names]

"The policy to scrap some winter fuel payments is expected to reduce the number of pensioners who receive the payment from 11.4 million to 1.5 million, saving the Treasury £1.4bn this financial year. It is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland."

Surely that's enough to pay for running a query on the database to spit out a new list of beneficiaries.

I would have thought it's more problematic than that.
Take a pensioner with £200,000 in a savings account, giving say £10,000 per year interest. how would the government know about that?
Sure, they can throw into their search criteria, a request from all banks to provide a list of all pensioners with some savings.
Then combine the two searches to spew out a new list.

But what about the pensioners with say £100,000 share portfolio giving say £10,000 per year dividends? How would the government deal with that? It's not a guaranteed income.

It all becomes fiendishly difficult to create adequate searches among numerous institutions. Then there's the political decision about where to draw the line.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

The OBR state that almost 30% of pensioners live in millionaire households.

Poss just London pensioners who suddenly find their shoe box sized flat in Wandsworth is now worth £1.2 million.

 

[Justin Passing]

Take a pensioner with £200,000 in a savings account, giving say £10,000 per year interest. how would the government know about that?

Of course theyy know about it. Maybe in your country they don't but in Britain all financial institutions have to report.

It all becomes fiendishly difficult to create adequate searches among numerous institutions

No it doesn't. It's already done.