Daily Mail: TAXMAN'S 'SLAP IN THE FACE' FOR RETIRED PENSION FUND VICTIMS

THOUSANDS of workers whose pension schemes collapsed will have their compensation plundered by the taxman.

Last December the Government finally agreed to bail out those who lost their pensions after their company went bust.

But the Daily Mail has learned that around 8,000 who have already reached retirement age will be hit with a huge tax bill when they receive their backdated pensions.

Because they are getting five years' worth of pension in one lump sum, they will be pushed into a higher tax bracket, with many paying the 40 per cent top rate.

If they had received their pensions year by year, as they should have done, they would have been in lower tax brackets, and some would have paid no tax at all.

But despite pleas from campaigners, the Treasury will charge them the full amount, costing pensioners hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

The Pensions Action Group said people who thought they had won their long battle for justice would see much of their payments wiped out by Treasury penny-pinching.

Spokesman Ros Altmann said: 'This is another example of the Treasury giving with one hand and taking away with the other.'

Conservative frontbencher Mike Penning said: 'It's completely immoral for my constituents to be penalised because the Government took five years to compensate them for the injustice of having their pensions stolen.

'They took the Government's compensation in good faith and thought that it was the end of their long fight. They are being betrayed because of the Government's incompetence.'

Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: 'This is a slap in the face for people who have already been left in dire financial straits.

'This is a heartless grab by the Treasury that shows they only really have one thing on their mind - squeezing us all for as much money as possible.'

Comments

[Cox]

The people who now run this country are as evil as Hussein or Hitler. To tax pension fund victims is diabolical. We have already lost part of our lives, or suffered ill health as a result, whilst they fill their pockets in pay rises from our paltry state pensions via council tax. Under no circumstance would I now swear allegiance to this country.