Number of UK income tax payers leaps by 4.4m in three years due to threshold freeze

HMRC data shows 26% more people over state pension age paying tax on earnings than in 2021-22

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The number of people dragged into paying income tax has leapt by an estimated 4.4 million in three years because of the government's freeze on thresholds, official data shows, a statistic likely to reignite the election debate on tax.

The figures showed that an ongoing freeze on income tax thresholds, dubbed by some a stealth tax, has pulled an extra 1.77 million pensioners into the income tax bracket.