Watchdog clears £142M Post Office subsidy for Horizon fallout and IR35 bill

The UK's competition regulator has given a conditional thumbs-up to a request for £141.8 million in subsidies to the Post Office – a publicly owned company – to cover its costs in compensation for the Horizon IT scandal in the coming year and a tax liability.

The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU), part of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has reported a request from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) seeking advice on its plan to give the Post Office £37.4 million in fiscal 2026/27 to continue to take action in response to the Horizon IT scandal and another £104.4 million to settle a tax liability under IR35 (a mechanism commonly used by tech consultants).

Following the request made in February, the SAU said the DBT has "satisfied itself that the circumstances giving rise to the need for... a further subsidy were unforeseen and were not ...