Ways to avoid private school fee VAT

[tiantian1005]

Hi, not looking for a political debate but has this been discussed on how this can be avoided or recovered as in i am sure there is a workaround. Can we pay the school fee via a limited company then claim back VAT or at least claim as expense or can we do this via a trust fund/

Who said they were? Read what I wrote. I actually said many are scrimping and sacrificing just to meet fees and that is not an enviable lifestyle.

Absolutely.I'm actually fairly ambivalent about this policy and wouldn't be particularly bothered if it were reversed but the attitudes demonstrated by quite a lot of the private school parents on threads like this have made me less rather than more sympathetic to their situation.
I voted Labour and this policy did not influence me either way. I'm not particularly I favour of it to be honest and acknowledge that there will be detrimental effects on some children.But it certainly didn't put me off voting Labour as in the great scheme of things, very few will lose out compared to those who stand to benefit from a change of government. A small percentage of the population use private schools, and many of them will continue to do so. Some won't be able to and if that were my child I'd be upset too. But far more children have been damaged by the policies of the previous government and I care about that a lot more. I voted Labour to get rid of the Tories.If it had been probable that a different candidate (apart from Reform!) would have been likely to defeat the Conservatives in our constituency I would have voted for them I expect. I don't agree with all Labour policies - or any party's come to that - but I think they're the best hope we currently have.
We've spent a similar amount to what many spend on school fees on private health care this year. We didn't want to, but given the poor care we have received from the NHS we felt we had no option. I can understand that some people are in the same situation re education. Like them, we made the same kind of oft quoted "sacrifices" in order to fund private healthcare - no holidays, my car really needs replacing etc etc. If VAT were placed on private healthcare bills it would hurt but I wouldn't consider it particularly unfair. It is a luxury and I am privileged. I can't write a cheque for £20k and not even notice it but even being able to contemplate paying for my health care makes me vastly advantaged compared to the majority of the population. Being one of the less well off patients in the private hospital or one of the least affluent pupils at an independent school doesn't make you underprivileged no matter how many holidays you've missed. The number of genuinely poor children who will lose out is tiny. Yes, there will sadly be some, but the real scandal is not this government raising taxes but the fact that the damage done to public services by the previous ones has forced people into the private sector in the first place.

I am a Labour voter and I think like the 93% of parents who have children in state schools I am really not interested in this policy. Legal challenge or not I am quite sure it will be in place January 2025. Also on the MN Education board there seems to be a lot of people really angry about the policy but a few people posting and posting again on these threads is really not representative of the population as a whole.

It’s certainly a policy that has raised class consciousness….in private school parents! They’ve gone from generally feeling blessed and a little embarrassed about their good fortune to feeling unfairly burdened and their children targeted.

Feeling your children have been targeted creates a visceral reaction. Forty years later Maggie is still the milk snatcher. I wonder if the paltry sum gained is eorth the animus that has been stirred.

I think the fundamental difference is that Maggie was snatching milk from the 93% whilst this policy only affects 7% of the population and, of that 7%, there will be a significant proportion who don't care that much. It is very different.

That 7% disproportionately contribute to both UK growth and also tax revenue, and they have the means to change their behaviour in response.

I agree that it's very different, but not in a good way.

The portion of that 7% who will barely notice it are likely to be the ones within the group who are disproportionately contributing to UK growth and tax revenue.

@Sneezeanddessist - depends on what the budget throws at them, right? Given their mobility and other countries vying for them, it is a risky move. If you are going to move your DC, you may as well move them to a school abroad?

.

We are not talking about the budget in general though. We are talking about one specific element - VAT on school fees, I don't believe for a minute that there will be a mass exodus of the UK because of a 20% tax on school fees. There is so much hyperbole about this and common sense says that, if they barely notice it, why on earth would they up sticks to another country because of it?

In 1968 Labour stopped the free school m ilk for children over 11 of the post war ear. So in a sense Labour were also milk snatchers! Mrs Thatcher did indeed stop it for primary school children from age 7 - 11. Under 7s continued to get it. So we are talking abou only 4 year of pupils who lost free milk whereas Labour had snatched it from 12 - 18 year olds - more children. Labour milk snatcher might be the more accurate description! In 1977 Shirley Williams (Labout) removed free milk for under 7s. More milk has been snatched by Labour that the Tories but the left never lets facts get in the way of Tory bashing I suppose..

And we now know that Margaret Thatcher was actually against the policy but was forced into it by the Treasury.

“There is so much hyperbole about this and common sense says that, if they barely notice it, why on earth would they up sticks to another country because of it?”

@Sneezeanddessist - my DC is about to sit the 11 plus. They do a competitive orchestra with a number of Asian kids who attend competitive local London private schools. Every single one of them is going for grammar and other state schools this year. It is a massive significant shift.

Each one of them is angry and has certainly noticed.

The barely noticed the raise? That would be the handful of people earning over 1 million a year I would have thought. Go look it up - there are not that many.

@Araminta anecdote also but I know a number of families who are not earning over £1milliion who are not too bothered about it. Income is only part of the picture. Wealth is a different matter. Many fees are covered by grandparents and trust funds.

Yes I think that's right, lots of grandparents paying and lots of inherited wealth.

It's more the high earners from working class backgrounds, like myself, who might notice it more.

Thus exacerbating the wealth and class divide.

I still don’t believe that people won’t
“notice” an extra 60k per child over their school life. And that would be a cheap private in London. It’s basically a full uni budget right there!

So I fully expect those who were only using private to shift some years into state to recoup the perceived unfair cost. Like scrap paying for infants entirely. Or go state at Sixth Form.

There are far fewer private only families than is acknowledged, Where I am, the trend is the in and out club, depending on need.

The “exodus” from private schools will, I think, depend on location. I live in Surrey where 40% of children attend private secondary school and where there is sufficient wealth to deal with the increase. That said, I do know one child who has already left my children’s school in anticipation of the increase and I have heard a few - but not many - stories of this happening elsewhere. But Surrey is a bubble and schools in less affluent areas are likely to be more affected.
I have children in private school. They didn’t do well in their previous state school but have flourished in their current school (one has gone from “working towards” to being a serious Oxbridge candidate). The system is deeply unfair - all kids should have what my kids have - and I really don’t mind paying more tax if the education system is improved for others … but I doubt it will be and that’s my issue with all this: the pretence that things will change when the small amount of funds raised from VAT can’t possibly make a real difference. The cracks are too deep.

Things in state schools got markedly worse due to the pandemic. Instead of calling a spade a spade and increasing funding substantially, it’s being brushed under the carpet and a whole generation of kids is being failed. The issue is even worse where any type of SEN is involved. Which is perfectly logical because we know how important early intervention is.

We’re already funding state schools with the council tax we pay for schools that we don’t use why should we now pay VAT

Because you still benefit from that education.

In the course of a day how many people do you interact with? When you go to your GP, the GP may have been privately educated but the nurses probably not, or the receptionist, or the cleaner etc.

When your car needs a service it is probably an ex state school pupil who does the servicing.

You will receive post from a state educated person, it will have been sorted by another.

Just because you do not send your children to those schools doesn't mean you are not using them.

I have no children, I pay towards state education because as a society we all benefit.

Everyone benefits, everyone pays. It should come out of general taxation based on income. There is no justification for private school parents many of whom earn the same
or less than some state schools parents to pay more. And you know that.

Education funding does come out of general taxation, like the NHS.

So we shouldn’t be funding a small part of it by VAT. If we need more funding, increase income tax and then the rich state school parents pay their fair share.

Exactly - if two people both earn 200k but one chooses state and one private, there is no justification for the one using private paying more for state education they don't use whilst the other doesn't.