VAT on school fees (you have to read this!)

[EverythingAllatOnceAllTheTime]

Government’s private schools VAT raid ‘could cost taxpayer £1.8bn’

Parents who are forced out of sector are likely to work less or even quit jobs, according to think tank research.

Adam Smith Institute.

Lol.

It most certainly does present "an argument".
As @emelina15 makes clear, it's better to understand the source of the material you're relying on for your clicks.

I hope you're not suggesting that Labour's policy was pulled straight out of its ass.

Regardless of economics, all children do well if private school children enter the state sector.

On the whole it's seen as a good thing if there is a greater number of engaged, middle class families.

Society does better as a whole if children are schooled together rather than siphoning off the privileged ones.

The economic arguments individuals are making don't make sense.

If you are sacrificing things to pay school fees now, you'll free up that money to spend in the economy.

If you're only working to cover the school fees there are plenty of people who would take on that work. You're hardly at the top of your field.

There are plenty of wraparound care options and your kids could well be better off if they see more of you.

I don't make judgements on people's choices but not putting your child in 12 hour childcare when the only reason you're doing it is to pay for the childcare, seems OK to me.

If there are other reasons, such as even more money or personal fulfilment, security etc then carry on. I don't think you'll give up your job that easily.

If you're going to put money into local economy through tutors, after school activities etc then happy days.

I suggest that Labour’s calculations were wrong, in addition to other elements of their argument, including their ability to recruit and retain 6,500 state school teachers.

To borrow your name, it’s the Diane Abbot school of accounting.

Whether they derived their numbers from their ‘ass’ or other part of their anatomy, I could not possibly say.

I guess all the people who were only working for the school fees would have stopped working when their child left school anyway so this is just bringing forward the inevitable you a few years. Max of 14 years but for some it will only be a few years.

Are you implying that only those in the private sector have the right to an opinion on this?

@pintofsnakebite it's the only opinion I'm interested in yes.

@pintofsnakebite theres more ways to access privilege in education - buying in an affluent area buying in a grammar area using tutors to access grammars etc most people don’t have access to bucolic schools and if they don’t there will be acquisition by stealth middle class kids won’t be going to a sink school I wd doubt

But tutoring (unless the tutors are sole traders or partnerships) and most extra curricular activities are subject to VAT so you'll still be contributing that way. That's kinda the point isn't it? Private schools are exempt when other kids activities currently aren't. It's not that those things are more acceptable than paying for private school, just that they are (mostly) already subject to VAT.

You are wrong regarding money being spent in the economy. I have seen surveys of parents and when asked what they would do with the “spare” funds if they take their children out of private school, investing in pensions and paying off mortgages are the most popular options.

The plenty of people to do the job argument also fails. We have a massive shortage of skilled workers and not just those “at the top of their game”.

Wraparound care is not always plentiful. My local primary doesn’t offer it and getting a childminder or after school nanny is very difficult when you live in a rural area.

In my case, I’ve had over 20 years of personal fulfilment. There are other things that I can do to be fulfilled which don’t require 15 hour working days.

Shady right-wing institute in favour of privatising everything opposes VAT on private schools - what an absolute shocker!

Why should @twistyizzy be interested in helping society which hates her and people like her? there is no other justification to uprooting kids who are happily settled in their school but hate.

How much do you care about her children? not a lot, right? why should she care about yours?

I don’t believe that they are mostly subject to VAT. I don’t pay VAT to my DC’s music teacher or tennis coach. When my oldest had a tutor, there was no VAT on the fees. There is also no VAT on their cricket coaching or football coaching.

Most tutors are sole traders in my region? Same with most music teachers. Most sports clubs and dance clubs in my region also fall below the vat threshold.

Hopped straight to the end, here. Six 🤭

Am equally amused and embarrassed for the ''Well, had I known THIS, I wouldn't have worked quite so hard to pay Izzy and Tarq's fees! I shall work less hard, now! Put THAT in your pipe!'- responses; as if 'hard work = increased pay' in almost every field of human endeavour.

We. Don't. Care.

@Bluemonkey2029
But tutoring (unless the tutors are sole traders or partnerships) and most extra curricular activities are subject to VAT so you'll still be contributing that way.

I hate to break it to you - a lot of tutoring is cash in hand so even with demand through the roof there won't be much VAT

Most private tutors are below VAT threshold it's true.

But they'll still be most likely spending that money in the UK economy.

Better that than higher earners who, as have admitted here, only squirrel it away in their pensions or spend it abroad.

The best way to growth is to give money to people who will spend it.

But the point is that you SHOULD care. We don’t have enough net contributors in the UK, and a diminishing set of very high net contributors. I am not diminishing those who make massive non financial contributions, but it doesn’t stop the fact that we need the people who do well financially and pay tax. If you think making childish remarks denigrating
that very simple fact validates something in your life-outlook, please think again

No dog in this race - but up to 14 years is significant. But more importantly, it reduced the numbers coming entering the space - who will make more conservative work choices since fees will not be an incentive to go for promotions etc

I suppose there is an argument that people need to be intrinsically motivated etc but there doesn't seem to be much of that swirling around Great Britain.....

So, you only work to pay school fees? That you'll now not pay by giving up work....

Make it make sense.

But why would you give up work? That makes no sense. Use your salary for something other than school fees.

@nearlylovemyusername I care about all kids, not just my own. More importantly though I'm invested in society and value education as a core tenet of that.

By all means give up your job and rely on your husband to bring home the bacon .. where does that put you with your pension ? - especially if he owns his company and starts shagging the next young thing - that is evidenced on here daily ?

I'm shocked at how many women, here, are about to give up careers that they, presumably, took years to establish themselves in; who get a sense of 'value' outside of being just 'muuuum!, who earn enough to pay London day school fees, who to date have felt their worth as wealth contributors to their families- suddenly go 'No! I Quit! Because the government are imposing VAT on the luxury of private education!'

Really? Is this all you feel yourselves to be worth? A snub to this government? Then what?

If I were harsh, I'd say 'work 20% harder!' -as that seems to be the advice.

The Adam Smith Institute is a right wing think tank, OP. Please get your info from a neural
Organization without an axe to grind.

the majority of children from any income decile are already in state education- what is it exactly that you expect the small proportion in private to do that the majority have not been able to accomplish?

different children have different educational needs, and choice is an important lever for ensuring a fit between child and educational setting. As a parent of a send child, the availability of state options for my child are seriously lacking. The uk system would benefit from more choice being available to a larger portion of the population, not forcing all children into the same school.

if I had more disposable income it would go to investment or holidays abroad- not the uk economy.

i am underemployed- I only work 2-3 days a week by choice - but I have a lengthy waiting list for my services. Clearly there is more demand for what I do than the current market can provide - there is no one stepping up to take on the work that I choose not to take. I am not top of my field, but that doesn’t make my skill set any less valuable.

and finally, no there is not sufficient wrap around. I started my children in state and chose a school that claimed to offer wrap around, only to discover a week before reception started that they had had to reduce provision and there was now no availability for my dc. With no childminders or Nannies available we were left to figure it out (and take a financial hit) on our own. Our private school doesn’t offer 12 hour coverage, but they do offer guaranteed availability 8am - 6pm when we need it.