To be glad that the VAT on school fees

[Shaketherombooga]

Is now going to be happening in January? what’s the point in stalling it? I think it’s one of many decisions that we just need to get in with.

YABU - it’s SO unfair. Labour hates ‘strivers’ etc etc

YANBU - Yup, Labour said they are taking away tax breaks for private schools, so let’s get on with it.

I fully support it.

What have private school parents ever done to you?

Why?

It's not going to prevent people like me with plenty of money sending our children to private school. It's just going to prevent the families with children who need a bit more help and can fund it rather than overstretching the already overstretched school system from accessing it. Everybody misses out except for the already overprivileged kids like mine.

Labour getting on with their manifesto pledges, surely that's a good thing.

It’s not going to be in January. Just because a couple of Sunday Times journalists think it might, really doesn’t mean it will. It takes HMRC about 6 months to register firms for VAT. They won’t get all the private schools registered by January for a start, that’s without the legal challenges that need to be worked through first.

It takes HMRC about 6 months to register firms for VAT.
No it doesn't.

I don’t think they should have VAT on the fees.

Without people paying for private school, public schools will be over subscribed, and there will be too many in a classroom to be able to meet the needs of the children.

in my opinion private schools are helping public schools not be over crowded. If you start putting VAT on them, many parents will be forced to move their child to council schools.

There are plenty of available spaces in classrooms, lots of undersubscribed schools. They just might not be anyone's first choice. But those schools will certainly welcome additional pupils and the funding they bring.

That might depend on were you live. Where I am, there is a shortage of high schools and children are travelling out of town to their nearest one.

Great, your kids your choice.

But let’s get on with it.

I don’t know where you’re getting 6 months from. That’s not true.
So if you’re going on that this will be stalled, then private parents will mount a legal challenge before Sept 2025 then it’s going to go away… it’s not. So plan accordingly.

You’ll find that very few support tax breaks for 6% of the wealthiest, particularly when there’s an easy option available - state school.

That's a very strange stance.

Parents with a disgusting amount of money? Private school for you.
Lower middle class parents? Absoloutely no private school for you.

I imagine they will have to create legislation to effectively exclude private schools from the current exempt status.

If they had been zero rated it would be a budget change so could be enacted faster. I assume it will be challenged.

I also assume that the widely held assumption that it will create money for state schools and help eliminate inequity will also be proven to be fairly unrealistic.

FFS you’ve patently just posted this to try and reignite the debate. As you said, it’s a manifesto pledge. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Stop using it as a device to trigger yet more argument. Let’s see how much money is invested into each state school from this policy before anyone declares it a success or failure

Which is ironic because they are the ones this punitive tax wants to punish for their privilege 🤷‍♀️

Everyone will be so surprised in a few years when the state system is even more broken and the social divide is wider.

exactly.

politics of envy which will actually only really affect those who can only just afford it.

The rest will just be mildly annoyed and pay the extra 4-5k

I don't think there should be taxation on education, and I don't think we should be departing from the EU stance on that.

But as we are, then it really is a case of look to the practicalities. Whatever instrument to bring it in needs to be properly drawn up and enacted, without unintended consequences (not least how they define a school, and how they deal with other items currently bundled in to headline school fees (such as lunches or the hotel costs of boarding schools).

I don't think it would be a good idea to attempt to do that in too limited a timeframe - and to bring it in before January would mean doing it all now before the summer recess, so it's done and promulgated in time for September. I think that is unrealistic.

I also think the public should be given a clear announcement idc about when the tax change will take effect. I think this should be at least one full term ahead of introduction, so parents who are so minded can give notice to quit without incurring penalty.

So if they get everything drawn up and announced before Christmas, it could come in for the Summer Term 2025. But I think it would be tidier to do it on the full academic year, so I think it'll be September 2025.

It’s not punitive to expect the better off to pay taxes on their premium educational services like I do for my DC’s math and piano tutors.

I’m slightly better off than families who can’t afford tutors, I’m not acting ooooh poor poor me I have to pay VAT on tutoring.

The families that can afford tuition fees, are way better off than I am. Many schools cost more than my entire annual earnings!!

So yeah, no one should be able to exempt themselves from tax by the luck of being or becoming richer than others.

Hah this is hilarious, do you know how many state schools are being closed due to too few pupils? Especially in London. This will help the entire education system.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68144986

overcrowding is a problem of the past.

Notice no exception for special needs schools. That's a shame.
As one has to give a terms notice when leaving private school they need to make sure the timing is clear of the increase is January before September so parents can give notice before the term starts. They will have missed doing it for September and also presumably missed getting a state school place for their children (for parents who cannot afford the VAT increase as well as the annual fee increase). I could not have afforded the increase.

In London maybe not certainly not UK wide. Both my LEA and the neighbouring LEA are oversubscribed. There are no spare seats.

A very short sighted and stupid thing to do by Labour.

In a few years time, house prices around the best state schools will have rocketed and the schools become private by stealth. Has already happened in a lot of places. You are utterly deluded if you think one state school is equal to another. There are some that are way better than private schools. Inequality will prevail.

It's not a tax break. Education is exempt. Labour have just badged it up that way and idiots lap it up. Doesn't it worry you that it's against EU law?

By the way, where are these 6,500 people who are queueing up to be the extra teachers? You know they don't exist, right?

It is a U.K. wide trend. Some areas are bucking the general trend because of house building going faster than the infrastructure building.

OP, I am guessing that it will take the government a while to set it up.

Also, it will give parents at private schools the chance to move back to state or to find money from thin air.

Honestly - why do you care? If it’s going to happen - it’ll happen. Did you genuinely believe that as soon as Labour got in - it would be implemented the very next day? Don’t be so ridiculous. It’ll happen - eventually. Why does the timing of
This impact you - or did you just want to ignite another debate on here to rile people up?