As a resident of the United Kingdom, you may need to pay Income Tax, receive a means tested benefit or be eligible for Council Tax Reduction. The drop downs below, confirm that WIBSS payments do not need to be taken into account in each of these circumstances, however the WIBSS payments should be declared to avoid any impact upon your entitlements.
If you require any more information around the impact upon your finances, you have a dedicated WIBSS welfare rights adviser available by contacting us here.
On October 23rd 2017, the Social Security (Infected Blood and Thalidomide) Regulations 2017 (available to view here) came into force. This means when calculating your income or any capital (such as savings), any payments you have received from WIBSS will be disregarded in full. However, if you apply, or have a review, for any of the following means tested benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions or Local Council, (DWP), you will need to declare your WIBSS payments. This is to ensure that the benefit assessor can determine what money to disregarded in your benefit calculation and avoid any affect upon your entitlement;
- Income Support
- Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- State Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit.
From November 1st 2017, any payment received from WIBSS, including lump sum one off payments, can be disregarded when calculating income for Council Tax Reduction. This is in addition to any previous sums held from the five former UK Schemes. If you require a copy of the interim Council Tax Reduction instruction, or have any queries relating to this, please contact your dedicated WIBSS welfare rights advisor here.
On October 23rd 2017, The Infected Blood Schemes (Application of Sections 731, 733 and 734 of the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005) Order 2017 (available to view here) (link to external http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/904/introduction/made) came into force. This means any regular payments received from WIBSS are not taxable. As such, you do not need to declare the payments in any income tax return to the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), nor do WIBSS need to deduct any income tax from your payment amount.
Please note; lump sum payments and one off grants from WIBSS are not included in the order, as they are not subject to Income Tax.
In the event of any queries from the Department for Work and Pensions, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or your local Council regarding your income or capital, you can refer to this guidance in the first instance. A downloadable PDF available for printing can be accessed here.
Following this, if you have any difficulties or you are invited to a formal interview, then please get in touch with WIBSS as soon as possible. We can provide you with a letter confirming all payments received from an approved scheme, alongside written confirmation of all relevant legislation exempting your WIBSS payments.