POH-IR1-6 Response Accepted

Publish proposals for equal tax treatment of compensation payments

Recommendation

DBT shall publish within 28 days of the publication of this report its proposals for ensuring that applicants to all schemes are treated equally and fairly in respect of liability to Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, and Inheritance Tax on compensation payments.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Department for Business and Trade accepted this recommendation on 21 September 2023, confirming that payments under the GLO scheme and overturned convictions were already exempt from Income Tax, National Insurance contributions and Capital Gains Tax (Government response to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry interim report, DBT, September 2023).
- The Post Office Horizon Compensation and Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Schemes (Tax Exemptions and Relief) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/184) provided the statutory basis for tax exemptions (SI 2023/184, 2023).
- The Post Office Horizon Shortfall Scheme and Group Litigation Order Compensation Payments (Inheritance Tax Relief) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1009) provided Inheritance Tax relief for compensation payments (SI 2023/1009, 2023).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Department for Business and Trade
21 Sep 2023

Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Payments under the GLO scheme and overturned convictions are exempt from Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, and Capital Gains Tax. HSS claimants receive top-up payments that are similarly exempt from tax. All schemes are exempt from Inheritance Tax.

Read Full Response
Progress Timeline
Official Report
31 Jan 2026

Verification: Interim report recommendations largely implemented through Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Act 2024 and scheme operational changes. HSS closing date set as 31 January 2026. Sir Gary Hickinbottom appointed to oversee scheme fairness.

Source
Department for Business and Trade government_response
21 Sep 2023

Government response: Accepted. Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Payments under the GLO scheme and overturned convictions are exempt from Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, and Capital Gains ...

Source
Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Confirmed Completed
01 Jan 2026
Horizon Compensation Advisory Board Other

Compensation payments under the GLO scheme and for quashed convictions were exempted from Income Tax, National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax, fulfilling the requirement in this recommendation.

Horizon Compensation Advisory Board reports (publ… View Source
Source
Inquiry Post Office Horizon Inquiry
Report First Interim Report: Compensation 17 Jul 2023
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Department for Business and Trade Primary
Themes & Tags
Post Office Horizon compensation gaps Weak Government Accountability & Scrutiny Tax Compensation Equality
Recommendation age 2.9 yrs
Last formal update 31 Jan 2026