Recommendation HIA-10: Compensation Payments Tax-Free
From Report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, published 20 January 2017.
Recommendation
We recommend that payments of compensation should not be taxable, and that the Northern Ireland Executive make representations to the Treasury and to HMRC to achieve this.
In brief (written by this site)
Section 15 of the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019, as enacted in November 2019, provides that an award of compensation "does not give rise to a charge to any tax or to a liability to pay national insurance contributions" (UK Parliament, Nov 2019). Earlier, The Executive Office and the Northern Ireland Office recorded in September 2019 that no formal response had been published because the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed before the recommendations could be put to it (Northern Ireland Executive response, Sep 2019).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
No formal government response published. The Inquiry reported on 20 January 2017, the month the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed; the report The Executive Office and the Northern Ireland Office laid before Parliament in September 2019 records that, because of the collapse, the report and its recommendations had not yet been put to the Executive.
Delivery
The government says in progress (5 November 2019)
An award of compensation under this Part does not give rise to a charge to any tax or to a liability to pay national insurance contributions.
From: Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019, section 15 (as enacted)
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Northern Ireland Executive
Response - The government
Delivery statement