Today’s tax war began under former Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who froze income tax thresholds and cut capital gains tax (CGT) and dividend allowances, as he battled to clean up the mess left by Calamity Liz Truss. Rachel Reeves has lifted it to a completely new level, extending the threshold freeze for three more years until 2031, hiking CGT rates, reducing dividend allowances, and even applying inheritance tax to pension pots.

Today, around 8.7million over state pension age face a bill from HMRC, roughly three-quarters of all pensioners. That’s an increase of almost 30% in just four years. Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, says frozen income tax thresholds in particular have taken a terrible toll. “But it does make the idea of generating a tax-free income even more attractive.”

The good news is that there are still plenty of perfectly legitimate ways for retirees to keep more of their money. Pensioners should go flat out to use every allowance available. Under the personal allowance, everyone can earn £12,570 a year tax free. Morrissey points out that careful planning, particularly if you’re drawing from pensions, savings or investments, could help some retirees stay within this limit. If you’re still working, deferring the state pension can also reduce your tax bill.

Basic-rate taxpayers can also earn £1,000 in savings interest tax free each year under the personal savings allowance, which falls to £500 for higher-rate taxpayers.

Lower earners may also qualify for the starting rate for savings, which allows up to £5,000 of interest tax free, provided income from other sources, including a job, is below the personal allowance.

Morrissey said it means you can make £12,570 from wages, and £6,000 in savings interest without paying any tax. “However, for every £1 of non-savings income over your personal allowance, you lose £1 of your starting savings allowance. So if you earn £17,570 you lose all the allowance.”

Interest from Cash ISAs is always tax free, and Premium Bond prizes are tax free too.

Holding investments inside a Stocks and Shares ISA shelters dividends and bond income from tax, and there’s no capital gains tax to pay when selling. That flexibility can be invaluable in retirement, allowing you to balance taxable pension income with tax-free ISA withdrawals.

Outside an ISA, only the first £500 of dividend income is now tax free, which makes the ISA wrapper even more important.

If you rent out a furnished room in your home, the rent-a-room scheme allows you to earn up to £7,500 a year tax free.

There’s also a £1,000 trading allowance for income from hobbies or small side businesses, plus a separate £1,000 property allowance for certain property income, Morrissey said.

Married couples and civil partners can transfer assets between them to make full use of both partners’ allowances. “This can double the amount of money you can make before the taxman takes a slice,” Morrissey said.

You can also share income-producing assets with your spouse, so you can both take advantage of both personal, dividend and ISA allowances.

Purchased life annuities can generate a tax-free income too. These are designed to provide a guaranteed income for life or over a fixed term, in exchange for a lump sum that’s not from a pension.

Part of the income paid is deemed to be a return of your original investment and therefore is tax free. The interest element is taxable, unless it falls within the personal allowance or PSA, Morrissey said.

It’s unlikely the pensioners will be able to use all these methods to reduce the tax bills, but even one or two could make a difference. In the fight back against HMRC, every little counts.