Should Private School fee payers get a tax rebate

[Pamplemousecat]

Just following on from another thread. If a child isn’t in the state system should the parents still have to pay the proportion of tax that is taken for education?

Well if you were ever looking for a good example of money not buying sense, this thread delivers

Sure.

Don't use the police = tax rebate for that.
Don't use the armed forces = tax rebate for that.
Don't use the NHS = tax rebate for that.
Don't use the court system = tax rebate for that.

But, then everytime you do use those things, you pay actual price. So rather than being free, your NHS becomes insanely expensive. Every time you call the police and they come out, it's a few grand. Every time you go to court, or get taken to court, you have to pay the full fees not only for lawyers but also the room, the judge, any other staff...

The sort of bullshit people who whole-heartedly believe they have "brought themselves up by their bootstraps" spout, without the slightest recognition of all the things they have benefitted from.

of course they should!

do the childless get a rebate? what about tax rebates for those who didn't bother the NHS? Tax rebates for this who didn't make use of this or that?

They do already. Private schools have charitable status.

Thanks all for your views. As I said it followed on from a subject on another thread where someone mentioned this. I have never at any point said that I wish for this to happen. I know, however, it is human nature ( perhaps the darker side) to want to try to persecute OPs but unfortunately for those who do, I’m unaffected because as I said, I have never stated that this is my view. It was a point for debate. I have taken on the views that have been expressed so many thanks 🙏

In Australia and Ireland the schools get a contribution from the government equivalent to what the government would pay for their citizens to be in a state school.

So your plan is to send kids private and not pay the education element of your tax bill. Then if you lose your job, have a life limiting accident or illness, etc and can’t work and afford the fees what then? Your kids would go into the state system, but you won’t be paying sufficient taxes for their “share”. Then what?

The tax system is based on society’s needs, not individual accounts.

oh yes, I should get a rebate because I don't have children. On the other hand, I am a fat bastard with poor mental health so more likely to be a drain on the NHS

YAB totally Unreasonable. Contributing to the common good is a hallmark of civilisation.

If you really object to funding services you may not use, we could go completely anarchic, no public services at all; your wealth and property could be taken from you by force unless you pay for your own security; if you're in trouble abroad you will get no consular help; in the event of war you will not be defended by the armed services; your bank services will not be regulated; if you're a victim of crime it will not be investigated, the perpetrator will not face justice, there will be no prison service...

Yes of course, we live in society and contribute to it.

It's a risky investment to send your kid to private school, sometimes it pays off - sometimes not, I don't see why the taxpayer should mitigate your choices.

I no longer use libraries, should I get a discount on my council tax? Nor do I go to public parks. If I have something minor wrong with me I go to a private GP because it’s quicker and more convenient than making an appointment with the NHS. Where would it all end?

Yes, everyone should fund public education, and I say that as someone who had a wonderful private education.

Yes. Just like they’d still pay towards the NHS if they had private healthcare. What an odd thing to suggest.

My house has never been on fire so I would like a rebate from the fire service. How do I go about claiming it back?

No.

Where would it stop? Do people with private health insurance get a rebate for not using the NHS? Do people whose houses have never burned down get a rebate for not using the fire service? How about if you pay for private body guards and home security - do you get a police rebate?

All that would happen is you would end up with a society where rich people can pay privately for vital services, and poor people are left to rely on an increasingly underfunded and inadequate state.

Part of belonging to a fair and civilised society means paying your share of society's needs, whether you directly benefit from them or not.

It's also nonsensical to suggest that people who pay for private education don't benefit from the existence of the state school system. It's in everyone's interests to have a well-educated population, regardless of the educational choices made in respect of their own children.

No, we should pay the same amount of tax as everyone else. It’s our choice to privately educate.
I have BUPA too but don’t expect a rebate on my NHS portion of the contribution, admittedly I do use NHS GP though.
I don’t think they should put school fees up by adding VAT on them which has been talked about.

No. And for context I have two in a minor private school. Never thought I'd send my kids to private school, I certainly didn't go to one myself but we can just about afford it if we don't do other things and the small class sizes are making a huge difference for one child with SEN. Don't want to treat them differently so we've [gulp] signed up to two. I try not to think about how much money this will be by the time they leave school and I fully agree that the same funds invested in a local state school would benefit far more kids than the scholarships handed out to a small minority of extremely bright kids.

It would be nice to get a tax rebate, as OMG childcare tax rebates would have been nice to offset the excruciating costs when they were little, but that's not how it works. The school gets the tax breaks not me.

Institutions like Eton and Harrow have pupils who come from families who won't bat an eyelid at paying 20% extra on VAT and increased fees due to loss of business rates. I'm really not sure how Labour can argue that they should pay VAT but not be treated as a business? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

Taking away business rates and charitable status from private schools is nice populist electioneering that plays well to the tabloids and core Labour voters. Along with nationalising the railways etc. By all means cost it and provide a rational strategy for the replacement/alternative but making grand statements like this aren't worth the paper they're written on. Much like Boris's bullshit. Talk about a rock and a hard place as to who to vote for when the time comes.

Should parents who home school get a rebate? Currently they have to pay for everything, Inc exams etc.

Theoretically if there was a tax break for families sending their DC to private school it would encourage more people to send their children to private school thus relieving pressure off the state schooling system.

Like you say OP, if charitable status was removed from private schools, except the state system to take the additional strain from families who will then be priced out of the state system.

I'd love a rebate with 2DDs and 1DSS in private school!!

Absolutely not. What about people who don't have children? I'm not making use of the state school service either.

As I understand it we pay taxes for the good of the whole economy/community. Just coz you don't directly benefit from that particular service doesn't mean you don't benefit. Imagine what sort of community you'd be living in if we didn't collectively pay to educate 'our' (collective) children

There definitely will be hundreds families who are priced out of school fees by the VAT and it absolutely will be added to the fees. No point burying heads in sand- it will have a huge impact on current state system and class sizes will inflate, resources reduce. But another topic I think.

Private parent here. No they shouldn't. However the thing that pisses me off is that if Corbyn shut down all the private schools in this land, then there wouldn't be spaces available for all those kids. So you pay for it, but there's no state school space for you if you wanted it because lots of state schools already maxed out.

School taxes aren’t to fund your own child. School taxes are a contribution to the education of all children, which is necessary for our society to function. People who don’t have children or who will never have children still contribute.

“There definitely will be hundreds families who are priced out of school fees by the VAT”
Where do you get your figures from?

No, that's extreeeeeemely polarising to the point of counterproductive. I think it's very sensible to give a rebate for home-schoolers, though.