Overview
- Reporting on Friday and Saturday shows HMRC applied 52 weeks at the higher pension rate instead of one week at the prior year's rate and 51 weeks at the new rate, producing incorrect pre-populated tax figures.
- The error is now estimated to have affected up to 8.7 million pensioners and generated reported extra receipts of as much as £43.5 million in the last year, though per-person estimates range from about £5 to roughly £35.
- Pensions Minister Torsten Bell confirmed the government knew about the problem for at least 12 months, and affected pensioners had not been formally notified as of mid-June.
- HMRC has apologised, says it is working to correct the calculations and will remediate taxpayers, and officials expect a technical fix and refund process to be delivered later this summer.
- Tax experts and a former HMRC worker warn the error was hard for many pensioners to spot because the incorrect amounts were pre-filled on returns, which could leave low-income retirees out of pocket and prompt scrutiny of interdepartmental data and oversight.