Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will pay income tax on the state pension from April 2026.

The headline rates of the basic and new State Pensions are currently below the level of the Income Tax Personal Allowance, so pensioners for whom that is their sole income pay no income tax.

It is pensioners with larger than average State Pension entitlements, because of, for example, entitlement to additional earnings-related State Pension, inherited awards or Protected Payments under the new State Pension who will be liable for income tax on their State Pension income.

Utilising DWP’s pensioner benefit forecasting model and the State Pension caseload forecast published at Spring Statement 2025 (Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK), it is estimated that around 30% (approximately 4m) of State Pension recipients will be liable for tax on their State Pension award administered by DWP in 2026/27. This figure is a modelled estimate from DWP’s pensioner benefit forecasting model and therefore should not be treated as an official statistic.

This is consistent with current personal tax allowance policy and the OBR’s Spring Statement 2025 State Pension forecasts. Tax liabilities considered are from DWP administered State Pension awards only.