How invasive is bursary application?

[KindOpalBear]

Long story short — my husband owns a small apartment separate from our home, and he only told me today that he hasn’t been paying tax on the rental income.

I’m currently applying for a bursary for our son at a local private school, but he’s now saying I shouldn’t continue. He thinks the school might check financial details with HMRC, realise the property is being rented out, and that it could trigger a large tax bill.

Does anyone know if schools actually contact HMRC as part of the bursary process, or are they just verifying assets like property ownership?

I’m really annoyed and upset with him, as it feels like this could affect our son’s chance at a private education because of his mistake.

IIRC, it was VERY intrusive. Pretty much dissects all of your financial matters.

Re HMRC, I don't know, but they would need explicit consent for this.

I think the bursary application is the least of your worries

Why do you need a bursary when your husband is a tax dodger? Pay your way.

It is very invasive, but I’m not sure if it would go that far.
But if you owe tax, you should pay it.

You've now been implicated in his tax fraud. I would be figuring out how to untangle myself from his money affairs coz he could bring you both down together. You're married so you could lose your money too.

I’d imagine if you own a second property you won’t be entitled to a bursary will you?

Your husband had a flat no tax is being paid on…. Actually you together as a married couple have a flat that you have not been paying the correct tax for. Actively dodging tax carries a prison sentence, so large tax bill or not I’d be wanting to get this all in order asap. I don’t see how you can pass this off as a mistake.

The first question I’d ask if I found out my DH is a tax dodging criminal is “can I still get free money?”. Sounds real.

I’ve recently gone through a bursary application while also dealing with my divorce, and honestly, the bursary process felt even more demanding than completing Form E. You’re effectively consenting to a very detailed level of financial scrutiny—covering both your and your husband’s circumstances—so it’s not something to take lightly.

That said, I think your priority at the moment should be getting your tax situation properly sorted first, rather than focusing on the bursary.

Tax evasion aside, I’m not sure you’ll have a snowball’s chance in hell of a bursary while you own a second property.

At our school you wouldn’t stand a chance with a second property anyway. You’d literally be wasting your time. They give bursaries for academically excellent kids from deprived backgrounds. It’s a city based school and most of the bursary kids are from the city’s deprived council estates, not from families with two properties who just feel it’s more important to keep a valuable asset than to pay the fees.

The process takes weeks and is incredibly intrusive.

Is this thread a joke?

He didn’t make a mistake, he committed systematic and deliberate tax evasion.

Yes, if they suspect fraud they might report it.

Agree with others that a) owning a second property will rule you out of a bursary and b) you are now complicit in his tax avoidance and you need to sort it out.

Are you even going to be eligible for a bursary if you have a second property? I would have thought it would go to families who need it.

Bursaries are meant for families with limited money, not for tax dodging criminals who own second properties.

You have previously started a thread asking whether you should inform your son’s private school about another parent who has been in jail, so it sounds like your son is already at a private school. You said “People like this (criminals) shouldn’t be allowed In private schools.” Have you changed your stance?

Rules are for the little people..

You really are worried about the wrong thing

I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I owed tax to HMRC.
When HMRC catch up with your husband will your family be able to afford the fees once the due tax, interest and fines are paid?
I'd be so worried.

When my daughter was on a bursary before she was given a scholarship the Bursar came to my house and we sat down over coffee whilst she went through my bank statements and finances, to be honest she was a lovely woman and we just went through the form together, the school offered bursary as part of it’s charity status. There was a family defrauding the school in a similar way to your husband but when found out they were not reported. I think partly to preserve the schools reputation.

👀

I think you need to be more worried about the tax fraud that you’re both committing.
You are worrying about the wrong thing here.

This.

This I would have thought. We own a house that we rent out and in turn live in a rental. So probably worse off than a standard family with a mortgage ( as rental was in deprived town of our birth, only way to stay on hosing ladder). But it was seen a sellable asset. So nu nursery dispite being on a low income. If we had sold it and put the money into buying a house to live in that would have been fine.

It's bizarre that your first thought when you discover that your H is illegally evading tax is that he might have spoilt your child's chances of getting someone else to pay for him to attend private school.

Are you not more worried about your husband's criminal behaviour, and how this might impact on your ds when he is eventually found out?

It sounds like both you and your H are motivated primarily by greed and self interest. Your child will benefit much more if at least one of his parents manages to find some semblance of a moral compass.