Pensioners have reacted with fury and dismay to proposals that could see them shoulder billions in additional taxes as the Chancellor grapples with mounting fiscal pressures.

“Appalling. I don’t know what else to say, really. How are we going to live?” one pensioner told GB News when asked about recommendations for tax increases affecting older people.

The outcry follows suggestions from the influential Resolution Foundation that Rachel Reeves should implement a £6billion tax shift that would particularly impact pensioners, landlords and the self-employed.

Another pensioner branded the proposals “terrible” and “shocking”, stating: “Pensioners get blamed for everything, don’t they? We’ve done all our work, we’ve paid our taxes all our lives.”

The recommendations emerge as the Chancellor faces pressure to address an estimated £20billion shortfall in public finances.

The Resolution Foundation has proposed that Ms Reeves implement a “2p switch” – reducing employee National Insurance contributions by two percentage points whilst simultaneously increasing income tax by the same amount.

This manoeuvre would generate approximately £6billion annually for the Treasury whilst leaving workers’ take-home pay unchanged, according to the think tank’s calculations.

The proposal would affect roughly 8.7 million pensioners currently paying income tax and Britain’s 4.3 million self-employed workers, who don’t pay employee National Insurance contributions.

The pensioners had mixed reactions, with some saying that they understand why Rachel Reeves has to make the move.

“We both pay tax, although we’re pensioners, and I can see that the triple lock is getting too expensive.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Rachel Reeves under pressure to break manifesto pledge and hike income tax
• Rachel Reeves under fire as she plots ‘taxi tax’ set to hit millions at Budget
• Pay-per-mile car taxes would bring ‘many benefits’ with Rachel Reeves pressured to launch new rules

“At some point it’s going to have to go,” one pensioner admitted to GB News.

A local councillor who is also a pensioner stated: “Personally, I would find it acceptable to contribute a bit more.

“But many pensioners are reliant on the state pension alone, and I wouldn’t want to see anything that harms them.”

However, others remain deeply opposed. One WASPI woman complained: “They’ve already fiddled me out of a load of money they don’t want to give me and now they just want to take even more.”

“Perhaps I won’t be able to visit Bournemouth again. And that would be a shame,” one pensioner remarked when considering the financial impact.

Another couple acknowledged they would need to exercise greater caution with their finances, stating: “We’ll just have to be more careful. We’ll be careful about what we spend.”

One pensioner explained the measures would “affect the number of times we can go away on a coach trip” and impact “all parts of our lives.