With impeccable timing, HMRC have just published annual figures on numbers of pensioners paying tax. Number of people over state pension age paying tax rose by 660,000 in the last year from 7.85m to 8.51m…

— Steve Webb (@stevewebb1) June 27, 2024

This may be the most important post on pensions this election. Look at the numbers of reads , responses and likes. Not only is Steve Webb the household name on pensions, he is an adept commentator – pithily condensing an HMRC report into a tweet.

Apart from the authority of its author, the tweet is significant for its content. Webb has expertly guided his followers to the true story on pensioner taxation.

Rishi Sunak says “no” pensioner will ever be subject to income tax under his Party’s “Triple Lock plus” policy. Analysis by LCP found nearly 2.5m pensioners will still pay tax on their state pension after implementation of ‘triple lock plus’ policy. #election2024 #LeadersDebate

— Josephine Cumbo (@JosephineCumbo) June 26, 2024

So of the 8.5m people over state pension age paying tax, 2.5m will only have income from their state pension to pay tax on.

Of those a sub-set will have crept into taxation by dint of their retiring from 2016 and getting the single state pension, while the majority, were always getting more from the state pension because they were getting the old basic pension and SERPS/S2P.  This is before we talk about top-ups from pension credits and the door to more (thought pension credits and other benefits aren’t taxable).

In short, the quadruple lock or triple lock + , is a fable for the vast majority of tax-payers who would benefit from a pensioner’s tax allowance as they did before it was abolished in 2010.

We are being presented with some chicanery which diverts the eye from the big deal which is that the personal allowance is not being upgraded with inflation and is therefore (in real life) causing real pain to those who get hit by inflation without help from HMRC.

The people clicking on and liking Steve’s tweets aren’t just political activists or pension wonks , they are ordinary people who know Steve from the Martin Lewis Money Show or from his agony column in the Daily Mail. They know him for his decency and his patience and his good humour, but they also know him for his sarcasm and caustic wit.

The PPI published yesterday the second of its pre-election papers- the first was on the triple lock, the second on AE reforms. If they get  1% of the reads of Steve’s tweets , I’d be surprised. There is influence and then there is influence and thankfully the most influential man in pensions, is also the most articulate.

However, I republish the PPI papers as curiosities.

Knowing how to talk to people outside the pension bubble is an art. It is one that Steve Webb has mastered. While we ponder our private pension issues, he keeps the public informed on theirs