A man says he would "rather go to prison" than pay his council tax bill after he ended up paying "much more" in council tax than he did before he took out his pension. Stephen Matthews, of Retford, said he has paid his entire pension back to the council" and feels "let down by everyone".
The 59-year-old cares for his disabled wife, Julie, and receives Carer's Allowance in addition to income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Mr Matthews said that he was misinformed when he took his pension out as a tax-free lump sum of £15,500, as he was told that anything under £16,000 would not affect the benefits he received, reports Lincolnshire Live.
He said: "They said that for anything over £6,000, I would pay a pound per £100 over. But that worked out at a reduction of £20 in my ESA, which I said was acceptable as it meant I would be £2,000 a year better off.
