What do you think to a report that O A P 'S should pay more tax.?

Once again, when a Government runs out of ideas of raising extra taxes, than of course the Pensioners are always a soft target. Now I do appreciate that the welfare expenditure needs some control, because it appears to have got out of hand.

Now if they are looking to raise extra Taxes from those that have already paid all their dues and demands, what I would like to see, is how much of this Welfare Budget is handed out to people who have never contributed anything. By this I also mean those that we have kept for years and we are still doing so, by that I mean people like Abu Qatada and his tribe and the legal profession that hang on to his tail.

We are not talking here of a few pounds, we are talking of millions.

Further more, while the Government is talking about penalising the pensioners, the greedy sods in Government are wanting a pay increase of some £40000.

Someone please tell me, where the hell do we get these individuals from?

I saw this item and didn't understand it. I am a pensioner in receipt of the state pension and a private pension. They are added together by the tax man and I pay tax through paye applied to the private pension on them. The only tax free money is the annual heating allowance and the £10 Christmas bonus. Is the Fabian Society targetting those pensioners whose sole income is the state pension where there is no mechanism for tax deduction? Most of those will not reach the taxable income threshold anyway, so what's the argument? More soundbites I suppose.

They already did pay 'more' tax - most of them. Many of them paid tax from leaving school at FORTEEN to the day they retired at SIXTY FIVE. Many had 'continuous' employment with no breaks.

Pensioners are mostly on fixed incomes too. That means if they were lucky enough to save into a decent pension and not have some banking slob run off with it, they only get a fixed income every month. Most working people can suppliment their income by either working overtime if their job allows it, or to get another part time job on the side in order to offset the rising cost of living. Most pensioners don't have that privelidge.

Thing is no one be attacking pensioners as every is getting attacked apart from pensioners at the moment. The welfare budget is £200 Billion and £5 Billion goes to the unemployed which are always getting blamed for it.

The biggest budget in the welfare budget is pensions I don't want pensions to be cut I believe if you contributed all your life its the states turn to contribute to you. Maybe if the bastards stop raiding pension funds you wouldn't have to contribute so much.

I think its disgusting how pensioners have to pay tax on their pensions not alone them paying more tax.

I think it's very wrong as these people have paid tax all their lives on their wages and they shouldn't be expected to pay tax on the basic State pension which is one of the worst in Europe. If they are millionaires, or they have other pensions then maybe fair enough, but ordinary pensioners shouldn't be hit as they struggle to survive as it is. What they should be doing is taxing unmarried Mothers on their benefits and the families who have loads of children.

It isn't a report, it is simply an idea (as you also said above) by the Fabians as something to consider. And you have (probably deliberately) missed out a key point: they are talking about wealthy OAPs, not ALL OAPs.

Not all pensioners are hard-up you know. Those who are often referred to as "fat cats" ultimately reach pension age too.

You state it is a Tory think tank, sorry, but it is a Labour think tank.