Financial and support services

Any lump sum or regular payments from the scheme, such as annual payments or income top-up support, are not taxable. This means that EIBSS does not need to deduct Income Tax from your payments.

You do not need to declare the payments in any income tax return you submit to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

EIBSS payments are discounted for tax and state benefit purposes. The relevant regulations are the:

• Infected Blood Schemes (Application of Sections 731, 733 and 734 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005) Order 2017
• Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017

The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 make provisions for payments to be disregarded under the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987.

The Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017 amended the Income Support Regulations to include an 'approved blood scheme'. This means “a scheme established or approved by the Secretary of State, or trust established with funds provided by the Secretary of State, for the purpose of providing compensation in respect of a person having been infected from contaminated blood products”, this includes EIBSS.

EIBSS payments should be disregarded by local authorities in making assessments for social care. 

Interest from Infected Blood Payments

Since 1988, successive governments have set up various schemes to provide financial support to individuals infected with Hepatitis C, HIV or both through NHS treatment with contaminated blood products.

The longstanding position has been that such ex-gratia payments should be exempt from tax.

Following the introduction of the new schemes, the above legislation was introduced in 2017 to ensure that periodical payments to beneficiaries from those schemes were exempt from income tax, in the same way as periodical payments from existing schemes.

The exemption only extends to the periodical payments or annuities in respect of the damages.

Any return from investing those sums is not exempted.

Once any money received from compensation is invested any interest received on that investment will be taxable in the normal way and should be declared in tax returns and self assessments.

Independent financial advice should be sought.

Payments from the scheme do not count if you are getting or applying for any of the following means-tested benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP):

• Income Support.
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
• State Pension Credit.
• Housing Benefit.
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
• Universal Credit.

This means that your income and any grants from the scheme are not taken into account when DWP assesses your benefit entitlement.

You need to declare to DWP any payments that you receive from the scheme.  

If you do not tell DWP about payments received from the scheme, they will not be able to determine what money they should ignore. This might mean any benefits that depend on the amount of money you have could be affected.

EIBSS payments are discounted for tax and state benefit purposes. The relevant regulations are the:

• Infected Blood Schemes (Application of Sections 731, 733 and 734 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005) Order 2017
• Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017

The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 make provisions for payments to be disregarded under the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987.

The Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017 amended, amongst other regulations, the Income Support Regulations to include an 'approved blood scheme'. This means “a scheme established or approved by the Secretary of State, or trust established with funds provided by the Secretary of State, for the purpose of providing compensation in respect of a person having been infected from contaminated blood products”, this includes EIBSS.

EIBSS payments should be disregarded by local authorities in making assessments for social care. 

Any payments that you receive from EIBSS should be ignored when calculating your income and any capital you have (such as savings) if you apply to your local council for a reduction in your council tax bill.

EIBSS payments are discounted for tax and state benefit purposes. The relevant regulations are the:

• Infected Blood Schemes (Application of Sections 731, 733 and 734 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005) Order 2017
• Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017

The Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 make provisions for payments to be disregarded under the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987.

The Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017 amended the Income Support Regulations to include an 'approved blood scheme'. This means “a scheme established or approved by the Secretary of State, or trust established with funds provided by the Secretary of State, for the purpose of providing compensation in respect of a person having been infected from contaminated blood products”, this includes EIBSS.

EIBSS payments should be disregarded by local authorities in making assessments for social care. 

If you get any queries from authorities such as DWP, HMRC or your local council, you can inform them of this guidance.

If you have further problems or they invite you to a formal interview, let us know. We can provide you with a letter to confirm payments you have received from us. We'll tell these authorities to disregard our payments to you.

There are many services which can offer advice on managing your money and finances:

• National Debtline
• The Money Advice Service
• Citizens Advice
• Advice Local

Terrence Higgins Trust

The Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) provides resources for people living with HIV and those newly diagnosed. You can contact THT for support, advice and information by:

Telephone: 0808 802 1221

Email: info@tht.org.uk

Positively UK

‎Positively UK provides peer-led support, advocacy and information to everyone living with HIV to effectively manage any aspect of their diagnosis, care and life with HIV. You can contact them by

Telephone: 0207 7713 044

Email: info@positivelyuk.org

National Aids Trust

National Aids Trust is a registered charity that champion the rights of people living with HIV and campaign for change. 

The Hepatitis C Trust 

The Hepatitis C Trust is a patient-led and patient-run organisation. There is a confidential national telephone helpline service on 020 7089 6221 or you can email them at helpline@hepctrust.org.uk ​​​​​​

The Haemophilia Society is a UK-wide charity for all those affected by a genetic bleeding disorder - a community of individuals and families, healthcare professionals and supporters.  You can contact them by:

Telephone: 020 7939 0780

Email: info@haemophilia.org.uk

Cruse Bereavement Care

Cruse Bereavement Care is a national charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can contact their telephone helpline on 0808 808 1677. 

Bereavement UK

Bereavement UK provides bereavement support and information. You can contact them by email at support@bereavement.co.uk