VAT on school fees anybody else worried?

[helmethead]

20% increase on school fees could happen on Tuesday - I presume failing independent schools could then become free schools? Only raise £100m though a drop in the ocean of debt.

Don't worry, this is just Corbyn flying a kite for his base. It can't happen while we're still in the EU, because no VAT on education fees is an EU rule; and even after that, Corbyn has to get elected first...

At some point, hopefully, people will think about it and realise:

• that if you had £1.5 billion to spend on schools, there are many better things to spend it on that free school meals for families many of which can easily afford to pay, indeed some of which could have afforded private school fees if they liked;

• that if you want to raise money for schools, income tax is a fairer way to do it.

Otherwise you'll have the idiotic situation where Jane's parents earn less than John's parents but effectively Jane's parents pay for John's school lunches as well as for Jane's, simply because they've chosen to spend what they earn on school fees while John's family chooses to spend the same money on holidays!

What politicalMe said. It's just posturing and there is more chance anyway of me being crowned Miss World than Jeremy Corbyn being elected. God I miss New Labour, politics is very depressing at the moment.

20% increase on school fees could happen on Tuesday

No it couldn't.

It would require agreement of all member states if EU to abolish the current exemption on education fees.

No one has yet introduced the measure and I there's no way to act unilaterally for Uk until the other side of the Great Repeal Bill.

Long thread in chat about this yesterday btw.

"I think you've misread - they're saying that VAT could rise to 20%"

Any commentator who thinks that there is already any VAT on school fees and that what is proposed is a rise, fees is so ignorant of the basics that the rest of what they say should be ignored.

The current EU regulations also cover education provided to those of non-statutory age (so nurseries and universities as well as schools) so changing it without unintended consequences will require careful planning. I think a tax might come (but it won't be VAT, it'll be the UK's own successor consumption tax).

This thread was started in 2010. Clearly it didn't happen then but it's been re bumped to reflect this week's news.

IT is interesting that this policy has come up again though and this time from the Labour Party. When we leave the EU any party in power will be able to remove Charity status from schools and charge VAT. This will mean a lot of "bog" standard private schools really would struggle. Some schools have huge numbers of pretty rich parents, but lots do not. There would be amalgamations. The other major problem is where these children would go if there was an influx of more children into the state system. I assume they think places would appear due to all the EU nationals going home? There is no planning about such scaremongering policies and I don't believe it will happen, unless the lunatics are in charge of course! I am glad we no longer pay fees!

Zombie thread !

There is another much longer and much more balanced recent thread.
Here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2896760-vat-on-private-school-fees-to-pay-for-state-school-meals

Removing charitable status from schools is a different can of worms. It could be done, but would require special legislation which would have to be drawn up very carefully. Lots of other things that are educational and/or cost money that not everyone can afford are also charities. Presumably a government that did this would want:

• not to accidentally stop all of those being charities, so it wouldn't want to stop education being a charitable purpose, nor to impose some formulaic upper limit on cost;
• to stop all private schools being charities;
• but without closing them, because even if abolition is Corbyn's long term goal he wouldn't get any VAT if he did it overnight and he would need an awful lot more school places;
• but not to leave a wide path open for other charities to give up charitable status and keep operating, because the possibilities for setting up a charity, collecting money, then privatising would be a burden to police;
• to stop any new private schools being set up;
• not to look as though they were acting purely out of political spite.

OK, maybe they could forego the last. Even so, quite challenging. Maybe the kind of thing that wouldn't happen in a new government's first term?

Just to say until we actually leave the EU this cannot happen..... a lot of bluster from labour to deflect other stories

The other piece of this which has not been factored in is of course that if Private Schools charge VAT, then presumably they can also recover VAT.

Th British govt can change the rules on charities at any time it wants.

That's not an EU matter.

And post-Brexit, the successor to VAT will be wholly up to UK Govt too.

VAT on fees is a issue of VAT exemption for education.

VAT relief consequent to (UK defined) charitable status - ie that on the business side of running schools is worth about £200 per pupil per term. But there's no way currently of ending charitable status other than by closing the charity.

2010 THREAD

but even less relevant now as Corbyn will never become PM

20% per child is a lot! That means another £6000 per academic year/child at my local Secondary Prep...
I recon more than 75% of parents from our Prep School will not be able to afford the increase in school fees.
The local comprehensive schools will suffer having to cope with added pressure from those switching schools. Some private schools will close/ disappear; therefore, no money to be provided from them.
Does the Government have a plan B if the funds will not match their prediction/expectations?

IT IS NOT A GOVERNMENT PLAN
its a bit of Corbyn pipe dream
at least the non 2010 bit is