Election - how soon for VAT on school fees?

[Labtastic]

So I see we're likely to have an election in early July. Obviously that spells the end of the godawful tories which is great, but also hastens the incoming VAT on school fees which, for us, is bad. We are one of those families that no one believes exists who stretch ourselves with school fees, and are going to be very pushed for an extra 20%.

Question is - do we think Labour can make this happen in time for September? It'll be our DC's last year of fee paid education and was hoping the timeline for VAT coming in would be stretched out a bit...

I hope so 🤞🏻

I would plan to have to pay from September

I hope so too. Also I do believe people like you exist, I now believe you’ll become a person like me, someone who can’t afford it- end of.

Also, for people like me who are on a bursary! We'd have no choice but to pull our child out when they have settled and are doing unbelievably well. They were bullied and targeted at the local state.

Surely it wouldn’t come in until September 2025. It takes time to change things. No way they’ll get it in place for September 24.

Sorry to hear that. A lot of people don't really understand there's masses of people like you, and that also this will be the final nail in the coffin for small independents and their staff. Eton etc won't be affected.

4th July has been announced. Here we go…

I wouldn’t count on anything happening until they’re actually in power.

We all know that what’s in the manifesto doesn’t necessarily ring true in reality.

So let’s wait and see.

I am surprised your school has not explained het how they would deal with the VAT. It is a very good question well worth asking and all parents will want to know what plans are being made.

No school can say definitely what they’ll do re VAT because they simply do not know how it will be implemented. There are too many unanswered questions.

@Stopmotion24 do you know of possible plans, because unless they are stacking lots of money aside currently, the only option will be to pass the vat straight onto parents.

They have, roughly, but the question I was asking was whether Labour could push it through in time for September. Perhaps not based on the long parliament holiday - maybe spring term 2025 will be more likely

We're looking at a 15% pass on to parents, approximately. There will be some saving in the school being able to claim the vat back from previous capital projects

"I want you to not be able to afford it me simply because I cant"

But it's definitely not politics of envy...

It would have to be Sept 25. Parliament is closed over the summer so there'll be limited movement in the first 100 days.
Sooner the better though, imho.

It will take time for anything labour do to filter through. An Election in July only gives a few weeks until the summer recession.

So no unlikely before this September. But next year possibly. It's likely to be a budget thing though so they tend to give businesses time to plan. So not next September but the one after would be where I think most likely if it happens

The election is early July and Parliament recess starts on 23rd July. MPs aren’t usually back until after the start of term. So, unless they manage to get the VAT changes through in a couple of weeks after the election it’s pretty much certain it won’t be in place before the start of term. Whether or not they can pass any changes before the following term’s invoices are raised is another question.

I don't think they'll be able to get it sorted and all the questions answered that quickly. HMRC usually run consultations etc.

Also the school will be able to claim some input VAT so I'd hope it wouldn't be a straight 20% increase.

And i genuinely believe you are, if not the majority of private school parents, a really significant minority. We can't afford private school, but I'm delighted that people pay their taxes for my kids to go to state school.

There’s nothing to say it couldn’t start part way through an academic year. Invoices are usually raised termly, not yearly.

There won’t be time to sort it out for sept so don’t worry. Next year will be impacted though

But it's definitely not politics of envy...

Well yes precisely. It's a very shaky policy in terms of what money it will actually raise, but will be immensely popular with people just wanting to stick it to the "rich". The irony being that the actual rich won't even notice it!

Surely you need to have a budget first. So after Autumn Budget.

My guess is they'll aim for Easter term 2025. Labour will want to lead with it as it's their big headline policy.

It really all depends on the existing law. If a Bill is required this will take longer than if the change goes through the Statutory Instrument (SI) change process.

The SI process differs depending on whether the legislation needing amending is subject to the affirmative or negative process.

Negative process is the quickest - still has to go through numerous different legal hoops though. So definitely not in for Sept 2024.

I'd have thought it might even go out for consultation as there will probably be other tax changes etc that need to be fully costed/ impacted before implementation

Yup. It won’t impact the people it’s designed to.

Our DC is on an assisted place. They worked really hard for it and, honestly, so did I. We had to go through means testing and it was (quite rightly) very, very invasive. it took months to do the paperwork and I’m not ashamed to say I cried regularly as it was so stressful and also humiliating.

We qualify for a high level of support.

The Trust fund have said they cannot support the VAT uplift, so we’re in limbo I think. This is because the 3 high schools closest to us are oversubscribed. No idea where to send them.