Allow a play date where mum unapologetically supports children’s education tax

[GigglyOrange]

Just this really, our local independent prep school closed due to the education tax earlier this year and has caused absolute chaos for lots of families, including my own. My dd (6) has been invited for a play date with a girl she seems very friendly with and who seems very sweet, but I’ve since found out from another parent that the mum is an ‘unapologetic education taxer’. My instinct is to cancel the play date, AIBU?

You pay more stamp duty if you move to a more expensive house.

Thankfully extra curriculars are no longer a help as regards getting into uni.

What specifically do you want me to back up?

The school doesn't have to pass the VAT on, they can absorb some of all of it if they can or want to.

Well, @Quokkas , @ilovesooty and others who have joined with me to ask OP to explain her concerns about alcohol abuse and smoking in the home of DD’s would-be playmate:

There is no way OP is failing to see our collective posts. She is ignoring them. Until she addresses someone’s post, the most reasonable conclusion is that her accusation was based on nothing more than a distaste for the woman’s politics. Possibly there is some gossip in the mix. All pretty vile.

We don’t all pay in now do we?

I agree. She won't answer it because she knows she can't.

I think that's U of you, yes. You don't have to be close friends with the mum if you don't want to, but it's not fair to let it influence children's friendships.

When did it become a 'thing' to police children's friendships according to their parents' political views? Didn't happen when I was a kid. I don't think I ever knew most of my friends' parents' views; the one exception was my best friend's rather fiercely right-wing dad. Never occurred either to him or to my left-wing parents to try to break up the friendship; and we're still friends many years later.

Why is it hilarious?

That VAT caused the closure of your school.

But without naming the individual school of course, cos doxing etc.

So how about you show a drop in indy school places directly because of VAT.

Immoral views?! 🤣🤣
Must be a wind up
Do you vet all new acquaintances on their views on all matters?

Agreed. I’m not going to stop trying to get her to answer though. @GigglyOrange, please can you respond?

They can reduce fees to make it cheaper but the 20% tax is still owed, a lot of the smaller schools were running at cost and had little room to do this. ‘absorbing’ it was a phrase Labour used to make slightly easier manipulated and unhappy people (quite successfully according to this thread) think that it was a tax on businesses rather than children’s education.

Can you answer my post please?

Ooh, where’s my teenie tiny violin? Businesses catering to the wealthy have now priced a lot of their customers out and are failing? And they don’t make much profit? Didums.

As I said: we all pay in when we have sufficient income.

Obviously non-doms and tax-dodging corporations do their best to avoid paying in. And it sounds like you're doing the same, OP, with your resistance to VAT on (luxury) school fees.

And there you go. Something you can provide evidence for. Because you have expanded from your specific school to all schools.

How many indy school places has the UK lost directly because of VAT ?

Well, I guess No but most of us aren’t meanies who begrudge paying tax so our disabled, or less fortunate peers can access healthcare and education and food 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’m quite happy to model working in a high pressure job, paying a considerable amount in tax, and having my DD’s see that their little mate from rainbows who lives in a council house with her single teenage mum, can actually afford a school uniform and a haircut and get a tooth out when she fell off her bike and knocked it almost clean out.

What do you want OP? The great unwashed living in poorhouses?

It’s not the job of governments to prop up private schools. The VAT on private fees should have happened long ago.

You are misunderstanding again. It’s not that they are struggling to make a profit, the 70% that don’t make a profit are set up that way, to put all the money back into the school and educating the children. They’re actually not legally allowed to make a profit or hold long term large cash reserves

Not taxing something is not propping it up, educating children is a benefit to the whole country. The pupils independently educated save the government £4 billion a year and subsidise the state system.

@GigglyOrange can you explain what you meant in your post?

They could have done what state schools are forced to do, reduce teaching staff, get rid of some extra curriculars, make composite classes...but the didn't...because it wouldn't make good BUSINESS sense

Private education is only a benefit to the 6% having it. It causes big inequalities to everybody else. The privately educated are hugely over represented in the top jobs and unis. More needs to be done.

Nah love. The independent system does not subsidise the state system. If it did, you’d be furious 😂😂 Labour have tried to get the independent system to subsidise the state system by removing g the VAT exemption on independent school fees though.

Many independent schools that were managed much better haven't closed. We have four independent schools in the surrounding area and none have closed. It's a business and if the business is unable to cover costs then so be it. I imagine they were on the edge anyway, since if they have already closed, that's very poor management and budgeting; dig deeper and have a look at their accounts 🤔