Widows could be slapped with £549 council tax rise as Labour floats overhaul
Council tax support could be scrapped in a blow to pensioners
GETTY
Widows are expected to be slapped with a council tax bill hike worth £549 next year if Labour goes through with scrapping relief, new analysis claims.
If the Government scraps the single person discount on council tax, which is worth at least 25 per cent, the levy's cost will jump dramatically.
Labour has refused to rule out axing the concession, which is deducted from a taxpayer's bill, in a move that is being slammed as a "widow's tax".
One of the reasons the discount is in place is due to the single-occupier households use fewer council services than families.
If Government opts to ends this support, three million pensioners across the UK are expected to be impacted and would have a greater impact than the Winter Fuel Payment being means-tested.
Earlier this year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced Labour's intention to reserve the energy bill benefit for those on Pension Credit, a benefit payment administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Do you have a money story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing money@gbnews.uk.
Taxpayers are struggling with the unsustainable burden of council taxPAAnalysis from the TaxPayers' Alliance found that ending the discount will generate £5.4billion for country.
Some £1.9billion of this will likely be taken from single pensioners which is much higher than the £1.5billion that the Winter Fuel Payment means-testing is expected.
As such, tens of thousands of older Britons are likely to be hit with the "widow's tax" of more than £600 due to living in local authorities with the highest rates of tax.
For example, single elderly residents who live in Rutland and pay the band D rate at £2,545 will lose a concession worth £636.
Research suggests that more than million pensioners in England live alone and are able to benefit from the tax relief.
Furthermore, there are over four million single occupants of non-pension who are eligible for the discount.
Some 1.6 million single parents with dependent children are also entitled to the support.
Based on the TPA's analysis, axing the discount on this group would raise £983million for the economy.
A spokesperson for the think tank said: "The Prime Minister has refused to rule out removing the single-person council tax discount, though other cuts were ruled out.
“While such a change would constitute a simplification of the tax system, it would further increase the tax burden, which is already set to reach an 80-year high by 2028-29.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Keir Starmer has told reporters that any policy decision will be confirmed in October's Budget
PAEarlier this week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer stopped short of ruling out the discount was being scrapped while on his trip to Washington DC to visit President Joe Biden.
He said: "Let’s just try to quash this now. The Budget is on October 30. I’m not going to say before the Budget what we’re going to do.
"That does not mean that I’m ruling in anything that you might be putting to me, it simply means, like every Prime Minister, we’re not going to reveal what’s in the Budget before we get to it."
A Treasury spokesperson told GB News: "Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22billion hole inherited by this government. Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round.”