VAT on uni fees

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So we will probably have a Labour gvt soonish. This means private schools will pretty soon after, have VAT added on to the fees. I think most private school parents have either adjusted to and accepted that fee increase if possible, or they have planned the move to state school.

My point is (as I know others have made but I think it’s more and more of a possibility, the way things are going), once education is made VATable in one area, it won’t be long til others follow. Specifically uni fees. It was Labour who introduced tuition fees initially. It will be Labour who add VAT to them too. I can’t see it not happening once the precedent is set.

I saw this thread earlier then mn search played mind games and I posted the following on a similar thread

I doubt it for two reasons

1. students vote many for Labour
2. we are having enough trouble recruiting doctors, nurses, teachers and other professions which require a degree. Hiking fees up with taxes even more isn’t going to improve that

Plus the fairly basic economic fact that it costs more to give the SLC money to lend to students that it won't see returned.

Bit like lending your flaky SIL £1000 when she already owes you £500 - and she tells you she'll pay back that £500 when you lend her the £1000 so that shows she can pay her debts.

It would be madness to add it on to a bill that the government essentially pay!

The gvt just pass it on to us.. what do they care..

Couldn’t find this yesterday. As always, it is the tax payer who funds the bills. Remember the Uber wealthy, often don’t seem to pay much tax at all.

I think the point is that there is no need to add VAT to uni fees. If the government want to recover more of the unrepaid money, there are other things they can do, e.g. remove the interest rate cap, or continue to freeze the minimum salary level for repayment.

As stated up thread there is no logic to putting VAT on uni fees, so scaremongering over it just makes you look a bit daft. As you've realised (rather late in the day) the debate about uni fees is already live and has been going on for many years.

😂 You can take a horse to water ..

I think you started this thread from the patronising standpoint of "I'm cross about the threat of VAT on private school fees, so I'm going to scare people into thinking uni fees might be next, in the hope that they don't vote Labour".

Personally I wasn't planning to vote Labour anyway, so whether I drink from your very muddy water or not is immaterial. But it's worth remembering that horse handlers who don't know what they're doing don't generally get very far, and may get a kick up the behind. 🙃

Ok.. there are ones that do.. You forget. Or rather, you tell them they don’t which makes you feel better.. Not to worry.

Private schools are businesses. the end.

As are nurseries and universities.

Universities aren't, other than the private providers.

HTH

As PPs have said, there’s so much misunderstanding of the VAT rules on this thread. Making private school fees VATable doesn’t increase the risk of making university fees VATable any more than there’s a risk of university fees becoming VATable right now.

Did you know a gingerbread man with chocolate eyes is 0% rated, but if he has a chocolate belt it’s 20%.

And if you put sultanas in the baking aisle of the supermarket, VAT free. If the exact same product is marketed as a snack and put in the crisps/confectionary/snack aisle, it becomes VATable.

Food for wild birds, no VAT. The same food marketed for your pet bird, VATable.

Orange juice - 0%. Lemon juice - 0%. Orange and lemon juice - 20%.

Children’s clothes with rabbit fur, gazelle fur, dog fur. 0%. Children’s clothes with Tibetan goat fur: 20%.

And speaking of fur clothing, take a look at this HMRC guidance: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/vat-clothing/vclothing3100

Now, extrapolate from the logic of these rules and tell me again how this change makes VAT on university fees a next step from VAT on private schooling.