The Treasury confirmed yesterday that it would apply to payments made in advance for school terms starting after January 1 2025, including any payments made on or after Monday.
The government has confirmed that it will apply a 20 percent VAT charge to private education and boarding schools from January 2025, putting an end to speculation on when the policy would come into force.
Under current rules, there is a VAT exemption on private school fees, with private schools also getting around 80% relief on business rates. The Labour Party had pledged in its manifesto that it would remove the VAT exemption on private school fees and use the £1.6billion-a-year raised to pay for 6,500 extra teachers in state primary and secondary schools.
The Treasury confirmed yesterday that it would apply to payments made in advance for school terms starting after January 1 2025, including any payments made on or after Monday.
The Tory supporting press whipped up a moral panic over the issue, dedicating column inches to the subject and repeatedly slamming Labour’s plans in a desperate attempt to discredit the policy.
They even tried to claim that the policy could lead to an exodus of students into the state school system amid private school fee rises.
However, the latest figures from the Independent Schools Council show that the number of children attending private schools in England has risen.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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