To think this is ridiculous about Eton v little private school (title edited by MNHQ at request of the OP)

[Sunshineandoranges]

I think it is ridiculous that while some little private schools are closing as they aren’t viable the big posh schools like Eton (edited by MNHQ) will claim back millions on vat paid in the last ten years due to a clause in the legislation. Any school, can claim back vat on capital projects costing over a quarter of a million pounds in the last ten years. Eton (edited by MNHQ) built themselves a swimming pool and dormitories costing millions and are are due to get a £4.8 million rebate. AIBU to think this is very unfair. I don’t have children in private school.

I wondered what Elton John could possibly have done to a school

Me too!

It’s not “a clause in the legislation”, it’s literally the foundation of how VAT works - you pay output VAT, you recover input VAT.

I thought this was going to be Elton suing Little Twigtham-on-Wye prep school for unauthorised performances of the Lion King.

that wouldn’t be like him, though. I feel like he’d offer them some extra wardrobe.

Well, they're entitled to claim it back.
Why wouldn't they?
The government knew this when they implemented this scheme.

No, this is just how VAT works.

Businesses charge VAT on their sales and reclaim VAT on their costs.

In that way, it’s a tax just on the difference between the amount they charge and what it costs them to produce, ie on the value they add (hence Value Added tax).

If schools are to be treated as VATable then they are both for the purposes of sales and of their costs.

So disappointed this isn’t about Elton John

I thought Elton john had opened a school.! I don't know anything about Eton i imagine tradition and a tonne of donor money and fees is keeping it open and building swimming pools.

I really really wanted Elton to have a school.

That’s just how VAT works. Some schools will be able to claim the VAT back on big projects. Why wouldn’t they claim it if they’re entitled to?

Eton spent £42.5m on capital projects over the past 4 years.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they were tipped off a few years ago about the planned changes so they could finish all their projects in time and claw back millions in tax.

This law makes no sense given Eton are passing on the full 20% VAT payment to parents.

What's Reg got to do with this?

Elton John’s school would have an enormous Drama department, seventeen grand pianos, and a school rocket. Maths would ‘require improvement’.

Same! Very disappointed.

Any schools with any sense would have known that Labour were likely to remove charitable status of independent schools, they’ve never made any secret of this being a priority of theirs.

Honestly OP ask MN to change the title of your thread or you'll just end up with loads of "I thought this was about Elton John" posts.

If they’d completed the project later they’d still be able to reclaim input VAT. No tip-off required.

If they’d had a tip off fifteen years ago they could have delayed some projects by a few years to get them into the ten-year window, but that relies on someone being able to predict govt tax policy fifteen years out.

Kind of makes a mockery of its claim to be a charity, doesn't it?

There is an Elton primary and Elton high school in Bury.

Are the pupils there for a long, long time?

Argh I should have checked the spelling. I’m obviously a fool!

How do do that?

I don’t understand why that would be prior to being registered to pay vat and why only on projects over 250 thousand pounds. Stil if thems the rules

The rich schools get richer, yes

Nah, they're out of there like a rocket, man

What are you talking about? The VAT thing has literally nothing to do with charitable status (which hasn't been removed).