AIBU to reconsider a long friendship over support for education tax?

[CoconutRumcake]

A close friend of over 15 years last night unashamedly said she supported the children’s education tax. To put this in context, she is godmother to my ds and has seen first hand what damage this has done to children and families as well as her own sister losing her job when the school closed. She had maybe drank too much and has apologised over text this morning, but I really can’t shake the feeling that I don’t want to be around her.
AIBU -try and move past it
YANBU -it’s run it’s time

The children are paying? They must be doing well

Sounds like's well out of it. #teamfriend

I do hope private school taught your children it's "might've", not "might of". Otherwise it was a total waste of money.

Is it just me, or was this thread started to get the phrase "education tax" into discussion ?

You're doing it again. You mean children's PRIVATE education.
Please stop missing that word out of your posts; it is really quite misleading. You sound so incredibly rigid and narrow minded and your massive sense of entitlement just pours out of your posts. How weird it must be to live in a world where you think your opinion is the only valid one. We can only hope that your children's private - there's that word again - education will teach them to have more humility and a mind more open to differing perspectives and opinions than their parent.

Well aren’t you a charmer? Firstly, it’s clearly not a “whacky” point of view as many posters are disagreeing with you making sensible thought out arguments. You dismiss swathes of the population as ‘on benefits type’ the horror people on benefits. I bet you wouldn’t be friends with on benefits types would you?
Your friend needs to embrace her truth and dump what sounds like a very toxic friendship group.

OMG the local comp. Can you imagine? The horror.

If you cared about education you’d be interested in ensuring the education that nearly everyone in the UK uses is good, not just trying to pay your way out of the problem.

It’s a tax on luxury education, not normal people education.

It is genuinely frightening that someone who supposedly has sufficient income to pay £90,000 tax a year has so little understanding of the fact that the ‘education tax’ doesn’t exist and that what has actually occurred is that the government has closed a loophole that let parents buy services from a business (education for their children) without paying tax.

I agree with this. Most people do. Free state education is available. Why should people purchasing a luxury that most people can’t afford do so tax free?

Ok, let me explain in simple terms.

• Vat is charged on school fees.

• State schools do not charge school fees as they receive their income from the gvt, mainly in the form of monthly GAG payments

• Private schools charge fees so have had to add 20% their fees.

• State schools are cracking on as usual with absolutely no concern about the additional 20% as it does not impact them in any way whatsoever.

This is NOT a 20% tax on children's education, this is a 20% tax on private school fees. It only affects kids in private schools who pay fees.

OP, please do end your friendship with this person - she really needs the break!

It must be thoroughly tiresome dealing with you IRL as you seem to think you have the right to insist people agree with you and you think this can be achieved by continually spouting the same, incorrect assertion.

It’s you that’s in a muddle. Private schools themselves were never exempt from VAT on what they pay for - literally no-one is saying that. The issue is that parents paying for their children to attend private school were exempt. That’s the whole point. State education is provided free of charge to all. If you want the luxury of giving your child a private education then you have to pay. And as private schools are businesses providing a service, then that service attracts VAT the same as all other goods and services.

That some parents cannot afford the fees with the correct amount of tax added on is unfortunate but their children will still be educated by the state.

Omitting the word private from your argument doesn’t make this any less true.

OP is deliberately conflating PRIVATE education with education.

Education for every child in UK is free and not taxed. Private schools pay VAT because they are a business. Someone is making money by charging for a service that is selective, and generally not essential@CoconutRumcake. Its up to you how you chose to spend your cash or how to educate your kids. But private school earns money from you so they should pay tax. If they chose to add the tax to your fee - well, you either pay or pull your child out. Free alternatives are available. Simples.

Are you trolling now? I don’t believe that anyone is this thick. Yes they were previously exempt. Now they are not and they pass the cost on to parents. That is literally how it is no matter how you dress it up.

👏👏👏👏 thankyou for spelling it out so well now please, please let that be the end of the matter.
It couldn't be more simply put. Surely you understand now OP?

Oh dear. Cringe. It was really nothing to do with charitable status or charity. OP is correct.

Read this maybe.

https://www.tax.org.uk/tax-treatment-of-private-schools-an-explainer

I agree with the vat on private schools there a business not a charity

The thread is really about if I should remain in contact with someone who thinks a children’s education tax is a good thing.

@CoconutRumcake for goodness sake please stop calling it a "children's education tax"

It isn't. It just isn't.

It is a tax on PRIVATE education, which affects approximately 7% of children aged up to 16.

How boring your life must be if you only engage with those that agree with you on everything

yabu

It's identical to another post from a few months back.

And yeah, imagine thinking 'depriving' a child of private education is the same as prohibiting people from breathing. It just goes to show how completely out of touch some people are. About what real poverty is.

I fully support the idea that those rich enough to send their kids to private school are also rich enough to support the education of those who can't afford to do so.

I guess we can't be friends, OP.

The UK government classifies bottled mineral, table, and spa waters as soft drinks and non-essential beverages rather than basic food necessities.

Which then raises the debate of what food counts as basic food necessities. Depending on your income for some Tesco honey nut cornflakes are an essential but Kelloggs crunchy nut cornflakes are a luxury. For some smoked salmon is an essential for others it's a luxury.

Again it comes down to left wing politics of wanting to create equality by bringing everyone down to the same level, rather than increase prosperity at the risk of creating inequalities.

Its obviously a crazy thing for a country to do its own children and my friend has seen first hand what’s its impact has been, which is why I’m struggling to decide if I want to actually associate with such an idiot.

Okay, so you're going to spew a close friendship of 15 years because your friend has been downgraded to an idiot in less than 24 hours after a few too many 🍷and daring to have a different opinion on a friends whatsapp group?

This is some reaction

Also, she has now begged for mea culpa?

and some friends group

Contact the Metro, they are often posting this sort of agenda-woven. GCSE-level fiction

C minus

In the case its real, your friend will be well shut of the lot of you

It is not a race to the bottom. What about SEN kids that the state have failed therefore ordinary working people paid to send their kids to private? Also no money has been saved. Just a peevish move by a peevish Government with no aspiration. The very rich will not be affected by an extra 20%. So no not entitled at all.

I can. There are some things that I feel are so wrong that I think less of people who think they're a good idea.

I've reduced contact with some of my ILs who have some really offensive and unpleasant views, and one of them in particular is always banging on about them.

Or charging VAT only on things that people can genuinely choose not to buy because there are alternatives that are just as good/ cheaper/ better for you…

Exactly.