Flight delay compensation taxable?

Jifl

So Easyjet, nice people that they are, cancelled my family's flight last year. I eventually got it sorted, and also obtained the €250 per passenger flight cancellation compensation from them ( google for: caa cancellation compensation). It worked out as £650, so no small sum.

Fast forward to today and I'm filling in my Self Assessment. Question is: Is this payment taxable?

Obviously I don't want it to be, but I also can't see why it wouldn't be. I'd rather not ask the tax office if I can avoid it, because they'd be biased towards saying it's taxable . But I'd have thought I'd have heard more people whinging about it being taxable, but google shows nothing, including here on MSE.

Any thoughts?

J

suso

compensation payments themselves are not taxable, so it doesn't need to be declared.

If they have paid interest on top of the payment, then the interest does need to be declared.

Jifl

suso wrote: »

compensation payments themselves are not taxable, so it doesn't need to be declared.

If they have paid interest on top of the payment, then the interest does need to be declared.

Thanks suso. I've heard of that general principle, but I haven't been sure whether it applies here as the compensation is not like a refund on the ticket, but a fixed (EU-mandated) figure. The figure is not related to any actual losses I incurred.

The actual number the EU chose is arbitrary - would I still have no tax to pay supposing the EU mandated figure happened to be £1000 greater? That's just as arbitrary.

I'm happy to be wrong on this though .

J