School fee VAT and the council, surely this can’t be happening?

[Sat100]

A close friend has told me that at their school, parents have had to move their child out due to being priced out and unfortunately there are no state school places available in the area. The council is now apparently paying the VAT on behalf of this family on account of the fact there is no space in the state sector within a certain mileage of their home. I am in disbelief…has anyone else heard of this happening?!

@Sat100

Councils are usually registered for VAT [a "Section 33 body"] and "may" simply reclaim that VAT. They do certainly get back VAT where they have to send pupils there [for some legitimate reason]

We have The Daily Telegraph for things that only interest the 0.5%.

I’ve had to hunt for press coverage on the court hearing happening this week. Part of me hopes this is a strategy to bury it if the Government loses.

Sky, Independent, GB news, telegraph, times have all covered it extensively today.

Labour are talking about cuts to state education, why is that good?

Maybe as there is no money as the Tories have bankrupted the country.

If a small proportion of the VAT has to be spent on stuff like taxis and private placements for the tiny number of children who need it as a result of the policy change, that’s fine by me.

It doesn’t alter my view that it’s a sensible policy.

As for legal fees - If someone challenges a government policy in court (as they could do with any policy, whether you agree with it or not), what do you suggest that the government does? Not defend itself?

Labour are in now. What are they doing so well? Halving growth and welfare cuts?

There is no money to do much at the moment. It will take a decade to repair the damage done by the last government.

For them to reclaim the VAT the invoice would need to be in the name of the council, which is straight forward. What’s not straightforward is raising a non VATable invoice to the parents for the remainder of the fees - once you’re registered for VAT if you supply VATable goods or services you need to add VAT to the invoice. The only compliant way I can see of this working is for the council to pay the VAT amount to the parents (or direct to the school to be credited to the pupils account) and not reclaim that VAT.

For pupils with SEN where they pick up the whole cost the whole invoice will be addressed to the council and the VAT reclaim is straightforward.

Labour have made the situation worse in every way, with every policy

They would only be if the school was providing the service to the council I ated of the parents. If the parents pay the fees they’ll pay the VAT too, and I’d imagine get a refund from the council. A school can’t send the fees to one person and the VAT to someone else. VAT invoicing doesn’t work like that. A council can only recover VAT if it is invoiced properly via a VAT invoice and the service has been provided to it.

Every single way they turn they make everything worse cd be something to do with a business secretary who isn’t a solicitor who said he was and a chancellor who was an economist but she wasn’t

Just think how much richer councils would be if they didn’t get rid of so many special schools and pupil referral units. Instead they’re having to use private specialist schools who make a fortune in profit. Same with children’s homes.

There would be no need for the taxpayer to cover the cost of these KCs if there hadn't been a legal challenge to this policy - a legal challenge which is "doomed" according to Dan Neidle, and which, even if it succeeds, won't compel the government to change their policy.

I can see this happening for children with EHCPs. My friend’s daughter was sent to a private school as the LA couldn’t meet her needs, that was years ago, it’s nothing new.

@mentalblank whu wouldn’t there be a challenge ? The only country to add vat to education ? What a time to be alive

I’ve read about other cases like this, so there could be some truth in it. I know people who’ve had to leave private school and the LEA are now paying thousands a year in taxi fares.

Let’s be honest though, the policy was never about raising money. Labour would still plough ahead with it even if it produces a net tax loss (which is looking likely).

We have a massively uneducated population this is going to make it worse look at Phillipsons dreadful policies already 60p breakfast clubs that even the schools don’t want because the funding doesn’t add up Reeves chopping further maths Latin from the state curriculum trying to run rough shod over academies esp Michaela it’s criminal

The irony is that that government are relying on lawyers who were all privately educated. It seems as though they’re not averse to taking advantage of the benefits of private education when it suits them (a bit like cabinet ministers using sports facilities of private schools in their own time).

Wait until you hear how much the Tories spent on the Rwanda scheme...

And the sheer amount Labour are spending on a failing policy for the same issue.

Education education education and more education.
If you don’t invest in and prioritise education, then you might as well not invest in anything else in this country as it is a waste of time.
Education is the building block of any civilised society and a prosperous economy. It is the future of any nation.

I can’t believe I’m having to this spell out.

Here's just some of what Labour has done after less than a year in government:

Freezing thousands of government credit cards to cut wasteful spending and ensure that every pound of taxpayer money is spent on improving the lives of working people.

Increased support for victims and survivors of terrorism.

Labour's Great British Energy is installing solar panels on around 200 schools and 200 NHS sites, cutting bills by thousands and reinvesting savings back into our public services.

Investing over £600m to train up to 60,000 more engineers & construction workers. Homegrown skills to deliver the plan to build 1.5 million homes for families across the country.

Investing £1.6bn to fix broken roads.

House building and infrastructure unblocked.

Rolling out free breakfast clubs.

Increased defence spending.

Launched 'Homes fit for Heroes' to secure better housing for military families.

Major investment in transport in the north of England.

Ended 18 months of junior doctors' strikes. NHS waiting lists down for 5 months in a row. Delivered over 2 million extra appointments 7 months earlier than promised.

Labour is tackling illegal migration. Since the general election, they’ve returned 24,000 people with no right to be here - including 3,500 criminals. Removing illegal migrants at the highest rate in eight years, seizing hundreds of boats and engines, taking down 18,000 social media accounts, ramping up illegal working raids.

From today, the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage are rising, giving millions of people a pay boost across the UK.

Labour policy proposal is to push more send into mainstream, btw, not build out specialist provision.