Military Pension Petition

[veekay]

MILITARY PENSION PETITION

All those either receiving or planning to receive a Military Pension should review the Govt's 'No 10' Petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Military-Pension/sign (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Military-Pension/sign). Its premise is that, "the military pension is a pension that has been earned over a sustained period in the service of HM The Queen. The Government is requested to remove all tax liability on that pension or at least remove it from being considered as income when establishing tax liability". While a successful outcome for the Petition may be slight, such petitions can change Govt policy and every serving member and Service veteran is encouraged to sign up without delay. Please pass this information on to your friends and colleagues who may be unaware of the Petition. The deadline for the petition is 19 Sep 09.

[Tubthumper]

I'm confused. Why should a military pension be any different for tax purposes from any other pension?

[chef4celebrations]

i am getting my service pension already and have been for 16 years, it has always been exempt from tax but it classed as a secondary income and i have no problems with that, as that is exactly what it is, a secondary income

[veekay]

Tubthumper I agree hard earned pensions should be exempt, I mean tax is paid twice isn't it, but we have to start somewhere to get a better deal and so lets start with service pensions.

As for second incomes, some aren't so lucky Chef!

[tonkatojo]

I'm confused. Why should a military pension be any different for tax purposes from any other pension?

As Veekay says in post 4 pensions should not be taxed if they are the only source of income, by that I mean the likes of war pensions where the person has given a lot to obtain the pension, not the person who retires early, before pension age currently 65 and then goes into employment again to earn again.

[Tubthumper]

The petition ask for tax exemption on 'military pensions'. Most military personnel sign up before they're 25 and used to serve 22 years before retiring. That means a lot of people of 50 and younger who qualify for military pensions. And bear in mind most of these people suffered no ill-effects as a result of their service, and most manage to have very fruitful second careers after they leave.
By all means come up with a better means of compensating and looking after those who are damaged physically or mentally by serving their country, but don't cheapen and confuse the fight for fair application of the 'military covenant' by supporting petitions like this.
It only takes attention away from where it's needed, with 'Help For Heroes' and The Erskine Hospital.