Member

I have heard various concerns about the threshold, so I will try to go through the different helpful suggestions that have been made. The first is that we should tax it but not means-test it. I am afraid that falls on two fronts: it does not pass either the savings test or the fairness test. I disagree with my noble friend Lord Davies, because it would actually go against the general rule that income replacement benefits are taxable but those such as winter fuel payments, which are designed for specific costs, generally are not.