The number of pensioners paying tax has increased by more than one and a half million in the last decade. According to figures from Revenue & Customs, in 1996-97, 3.86m pensioners were hit by income tax, now that number has been gone up to 5.44m, The Daily Telegraph reports. When the 10p tax band was scrapped by the government earlier this year, it did not do so for savers. But banks automatically take 20% off taxpayers' income as tax, leaving 1.3m savers, many of them pensioners, having to claim back 10% tax on their savings accounts each year. According to TaxHelp for Older People, many pensioners are missing out because they are confused by the system. Pension experts say there has been an increase in pensioners over the last decade of 6%, but the number does not correlate with the increase in the number of pensioners now paying tax, which is far higher at 40%.