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.

It will also affect families where a child has a partial scholarship or bursary that helped to pay for fees. These won't easily (if at all) be able to pay the extra.

No they ooze common sense and thinking of others instead of thinking of just your own tiny family unit.

Sick to death of privately educationing parents declaring the state system is awful. It isn’t.

I don’t have kids at school. I always thought we had a good state system. It’s regular experienced teachers posting on MN who have informed me that large parts of the state sector are in a dire condition. Some of the stories are terrible to read. Are these teachers lying?

And as for those rankings, I thought many teachers say Ofsted isn’t fit for purpose?

There are TONS of spare places, many many many places.
Schools areclosing, class sizes dropping all across the country.
Not that anyone is seriously expecting 1000s of posh kids to suddenly descend into their school.

If all you knew about teachers was from Mumsnet then you'd be terrified of sending your dcs to school at all!

How often do you think of others? What have you personally done to benefit, say, my kids?

Struggling but with lots of places? I smell bullshit and something is being proof is a lie when parents started enquiring about places.

‘Sick to death of privately educationing parents declaring the state system is awful. It isn’t.’

Exactly. Pick the worst examples of the worst behaviour and use that as an example?
I could do the same with private schools - the sexual harassment of girls, the creating of AI deep fakes of pornography of female pupils, the sexual abuse allowed to happen, and continue at boarding schools, and other private schools - covered up by the schools using PR crisis managers, the bullying, the teachers hired without proper background checks because they have the right accent or connections who turn out to be abusers, the ‘teachers’ who are hired without any actual teaching qualifications…

I could go on?

That is probably true!

I’m sorry but that’s just nonsense. My own tiny family unit pays 100k income tax every year while at the same time using fewer public services than other similar families.

To suggest that we are in some way selfish is incredible.

I don't know your kids specifically so that's a very odd question but I do lots to benefit others. I run a volunteer organisation which benefits my whole town, I also volunteer in a school. I give to charity, I help out at park run, I did free tutoring during lockdown to kids finding it hard. My paid work is also involved in supporting children.

Not that I should have to justify myself to you.

Round of applause for paying your taxes. If you're paying that much in taxes then you are blinkin lucky at you'll be extremely well paid.

Put 100k income tax into the pot every year and take nothing back to allow families such as yours to take out more.

People do not get to earn that much by luck. Drive and focus and good decisions as oppose as being jealous of those who do better and expect someone pay their bills and for their kids.

Wow, so everyone on low wages doesn't work hard and/or makes bad choices?

Are you a Private school parent? If not, why would you be happy about something that negatively impacts someone else?

Wow so everyone with money is lucky? They never worked hard for it. It must a weird world the one you live in.

But you’re not using fewer public services for selfless reasons - you don’t think public services are good enough for you and you want better.

The point is that you can’t keep coming for the same people time and time again as it eventually creates a situation where the higher earners simply don’t see the benefit of continuing at the same pace.

It feels like death by a thousand cuts at times. A small tweak in tax rates, another shift in tax bands, a loss of personal allowance, means tested funded nursery hours, means tested child benefit etc.

In isolation none of them appear to be deal breakers however combine them together and you end up creating a huge disincentive to work more in certain circumstances.

I once received a 25k bonus and lost the entire amount due to a mix of loss of personal allowance, funded childcare and tax free childcare savings. There are other circumstances where similar outcomes arise.

No higher earners begrudge paying taxes however it is inevitable that behaviour will change in response to punitive effective rates and that is something that appears to be being ignored at the moment.

What difference does the reason make? Are you suggesting my taxes should effectively be considered similar to a fine for refusing to use certain public services?

If schools are cynical enough to do this, and I know most are, then let’s hope they aren’t the ‘charity’ registered ones - unless they’re looking for a way to get rid of their charity status and start paying proper business rates??

The same option remains for these bursary, scholarship type kids - they go to state schools. Like most kids. It’s hardly some awful outcome. Bright kids, with talent at sport or music or whatever for them the funding will thrive anywhere…

Far luckier than those without it yes!

Plenty of people on low and middling wages have drive, focus and make good decisions.

In my experience managers in the eye watering wages often have very little actual expertise and make crap decisions whilst expecting those with the actual ability to make money for them even when they screw up due to sheer lack of any real ability at anything other than “managing”.

Ahhhh! The great private school envy.

We were considering sending mine to private school. We could just about afford it. Now we can't.