VAT on private healthcare?

[justasking111]

Neil Kinnock has an idea for Rachel Reeves. Putting Vat on private healthcare would raise 2 billion pounds a year which could improve the NHS.

I have my doubts about this helping unless it's ring fenced for the NHS.

He's also said that anyone with assets of ten million pounds plus should pay 2% tax on it.

Because Starmer subsequently admitted money is going to housing and defence not state schools. You actually thought it was going to schools??

Every time my family use private healthcare, eg out of hours GP appointment for my child or getting something like a shoulder or knee injury seen for my husband, we are saving the NHS and therefore the tax payer money by having treatment that we are entitled to have for free at the tax payer’s expense instead paid for out of our own pocket. So what you are basically saying is that we should pay more tax as a penalty for having saved the government money?

Also, we pay to have private tests, eg I paid for private breast cancer screening because I’m not yet 50 so the NHS don’t offer it as routine, but as my mother had it I’m higher risk. Fortunately clear, but if I had had cancer, it would be a lot cheaper for the NHS to treat me if it was caught early by a routine mammogram than if I’d only been seen once I had symptoms.

🎯

VAT has nothing to do with luxury 😒

People don’t understand VAT. It wouldn’t raise any extra money.

Currently, private health insurance is subject to IPT which is a fixed cost - no one can recover it.

Change it to VAT:

Health insurance firms charge 20%, but suddenly they can recover all their input tax. big win for large insurers who are suddently
way better off.

Insurance premiums charged to business would be recoverable - so no extra cost to businesses and no extra revenue raised.

Who can’t recover VAT in full? The man on the street and the NHS.

So anything outsourced by the NHS to the private sector (which happens a lot) is suddenly 20% more expensive to the NHS.

If you self- pay (which lots do out of sheer desperation) it’s 20% more expensive.

So overall, I’m not convinced any extra money would be raised, insurers and businesses would be better off and the NHS and the man on the street are the only losers.

I cannot believe some people think it's acceptable to put VAT on private healthcare because it's a luxury. Look up the founding values of the NHS and see how far we are from them now. I wrote a full reply and then thought - sod it. There's no point. Which is exactly what I think in my job too. I give up.

Yes. They need to start charging for the NHS too.

Oh and to add - enjoy the extra 20% on dentists, opticians, osteopaths. All of which is classed as ‘private healthcare’

At this point just start patients on NHS what's the point of slapping VAT it wouldn't fix the issues. So stop fancying about and make the unpalatable choices instead at least this way everyone is stuck with it and not just some.

The same people who think it's acceptable to tax the education of children! That's the mindset you are dealing with.

UK is only country in the whole world to tax education now (without also giving generous tax exemptions to parents as most countries understand that independent schools relieve burden on the state).

My MIL had to go private for her eye op. She was almost blind, constantly at her optician for drops, tests etc. They told her she would need to wait over a year to get one eye done and another year for the second one. She would have required personal care by this time as she couldn’t see to cook, clean etc. She had enough in savings to get both eyes done, she couldn’t have done that if she had to pay 20% more. She has saved the NHS and LA £££ by going private. This would be a false economy.

Exactly same as what happens with independent schools yet many people support taxing them!

It's no different to VAT on private school fees. You can't be against one and not the other.

For all the exmples in this thread of why people use, or need to use private healthcare, you can find an equal number of examples of why people needed to use independent schools. But people were over the moon to be sticking it to the rich privileged parents (many of which actually aren't thst rich or privileged) and happy to ruin children's opportunities and education. Why is this any different?

The NHS does not need more money. It needs tough decisions and better management. But no government has got the backbone to realise that. Continue to chuck money at it and it just needs more. Money won't solve the real issues.

I was also against VAT on private schools but I also think private healthcare has a certain benefit to the economy. Many people, for example self-employed people rely on it to keep in work.

I myself would have likely had to quit my job had I not been paying for my child to have surgery, due to the impact her condition has on us all.

Exactly! Isn't it strange how those who support taxing children's education because it doesn't impact them, are suddenly against taxing something which does impact them?

@Antsinmypantsneedtodance No it won’t. But this would be about Looking like you’re punishing the rich people. Labour love that shit.

Independent schools contribute to the economy by: employing teachers, staff, offering state schools free use of facilities, paying taxes etc. They contribute £10B to economy each year.

Each time a school closes the local economy is impacted.

Nope but that's what was promised. So Vat on private healthcare going to the NHS, nah don't believe that either.

Another utterly stupid "politics of envy" policy that will do more harm than good.

If anything, the government should be giving tax incentives for people to have private healthcare so that it takes more of the strain off the NHS.

We should be encouraging people who can afford it to go private, we should be encouraging employers to offer private healthcare as a benefit in kind.

We certainly shouldn't be taxing it!

The Fabian mindset doesn't do logic though

Exactly, it's the altar of equality where the lefties want everyone to be equal, even if it means everyone has crap services/treatment - after all it's only "fair"!

Good luck with that. More opting out and putting greater use on the NHS.

People were very keen. But no you probably won’t see it.

Yes agreed (i also attended private school) but I’m at least hoping people would be able to see a more direct benefit of private healthcare, and have a bit more of an understanding of why people turn it it when being failed by NHS.

Did you think VAT on independent schools was a good idea, out of interest