The 55 per cent pension tax is ‘driving people away from work’ warns Andrew Castle

5 November 2022, 14:53

Andrew Castle reflects on the 55 per cent pension tax

People with that kind of money are “being driven away from industries that we really could use them to stay in right now”, he said.

Andrew Castle warned that the 55 per cent tax on pensions is “driving people away from work” during his monologue today.

“If somebody’s got a pension pot of £1,073,100, do you feel sorry for them?”, the presenter began.
He continued: “Do you feel sorry in any way shape or form that they’re not going to work anymore because they’re going to get taxed at 55 per cent - at least?

“Would you be surprised that there are two million people in this position and that many, many of them are in the public sector, so that is money that’s got to that point over many years of being paid their pension out of the public purse.

“You probably don’t feel sorry for them”, he went on. “The fact of the matter is that what you retire on with a pot like that isn’t exactly amazing - you’re not going to be off to the Caribbean with your own villa with that.”

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He warned that it is “driving people away from work”.

“They are being driven at a time when they’re probably very experienced and have seen it all before, they’re being driven away from industries that we really could use them to stay in right now, but that is what is being talked about by a Tory government.”

“No matter how many times they’ve been told by anybody that represents any senior medics, they’re just going, why are we driving people away? And I agree with that.”

He mentioned the front page of The Daily Telegraph, which describes this as a “stealth tax raid”, where the pension lifetime allowance will be frozen for two more years.

It comes after growing concern around whether the government will stick to the manifesto pledge of the triple lock on pensions, introduced in 2010 under the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government.

During Liz Truss’ brief premiership she abandoned that, but what will happen under Rishi Sunak pertaining to state retirement funds next year remains to be seen.