Above inflation £550 boost for pensioners expected in budget

Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a higher-than-inflation rise for 13 million pensioners in her upcoming budget.

People on the full rate of the new state pension will benefit with more than £550 a year more.

“Whether it’s our commitment to the triple lock or to rebuilding our NHS to cut waiting lists, we’re supporting pensioners to give them the security in retirement they deserve,” the chancellor said.

Wednesday’s long-trailed budget is expected to be big and speculation has persisted on whether it will include tax rises – and who those rises will affect.

And while she is expected to reaffirm the government’s commitment to the triple lock, she is believed to be considering limiting how much workers can put in their pension pots under sacrifice schemes before paying national insurance.

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Craig Beaumont, external affairs director at the Federation of Small Business, said in comments reported by the Financial Times: “The chancellor promised not to come back for more but attacking salary sacrifice, which has been in place for 40 years to help employers help their staff, will impact business and their staff.”

In another move, the chancellor is expected to extend a crackdown on benefit fraud in an effort to raise £1.2bn.

This would include extending targeted case reviews, which root out inaccuracies in universal credit claims.

Ms Reeves is also thought to be considering bringing in a pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicle drivers.