Hardship payments of jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) are taxable in the same way as income-based JSA (see here). Hardship payments of universal credit (UC) and employment and support allowance (ESA) are not taxable.

Hardship payments of UC, JSA and ESA count towards the benefit cap, although in JSA and ESA cases the benefit cap only applies if you are getting housing benefit (HB). See here for further information.

Hardship payments are a type of UC, income-based JSA and income-related ESA, so while getting hardship payments, you are still entitled to passported benefits (eg, help with health costs) in the usual way.