Vat on Independent school fees?

How dare you. You know nothing about my mate and the scarifices he’s had to make. You insulting, ignorant twat.

SOME people scrimp and save to get their kids a better education and worry sick about how they can continue to afford it and that they may have to pull them out of their school half way through. You have no fucking clue.

Not everyone is minted.
Some people have to scrimp and save to feed their kids or buy them a pair of school shoes.
 
It’s not like school fees haven’t increased way ahead of inflation in recent years. The average cost of private school fees has risen by 20% in real terms since 2010, and by 55% since 2003, even without VAT.

So presumably there will have been plenty of parents who have had to remove their kids from private education over the last decade or two because of the relatively increasing cost.

Where was the outrage at that?

I’ve perhaps got a bit more insight into this particular subject than most, as my son went to private school but had to be moved to a state (boarding) school when my business failed and I went bankrupt fifteen years ago. Serendipitously, he actually benefited enormously from that move and he went from being an average student to an excellent one as a consequence.

The reality was that me and his mum could no longer afford the fees at his previous school and thanks to his mum’s ingenuity and craft she managed to find him a spot elsewhere at an exceptional state school, which he absolutely adored.

I am surrounded professionally by those that have had the benefit of a private education and there are clear advantages in terms of facilities, class sizes and the connections it provides - otherwise why pay all that money? It’s a natural human instinct to want the best for your own child, and I would never criticise anyone for that.

As I’ve said previously, I defend anyone’s right to make that choice but the benefits that education provides is by way of a professional service that people elect to pay for, in order to gain some clear advantage over other children. Much like instructing a lawyer to give you a perceived advantage in litigation. Those professional fees are subject to VAT, just are those of an accountant, and I fail to see how private education should be any different.

It will mean some children missing the cut, which is regrettable, but that is plainly the case now, by way of the foregoing increases in fees, or the cost in any event, which is completely beyond most families. There is no more tragedy in missing that cut, than the opportunities that are missing from many children’s lives every day. Life isn’t fair and never will be, but charging VAT on school fees is a very small step in making our society ever so slightly fairer overall.

Beer duty goes up, some pubs will close as a consequence. It’s a shame on an individual level, but there will always be cases of particular hardship when it comes to the implementation broad taxation policy. This is no different.
 
It’s not like school fees haven’t increased way ahead of inflation in recent years. The average cost of private school fees has risen by 20% in real terms since 2010, and by 55% since 2003, even without VAT.

So presumably there will have been plenty of parents who have had to remove their kids from private education over the last decade or two because of the relatively increasing cost.

Where was the outrage at that?

I’ve perhaps got a bit more insight into this particular subject than most, as my son went to private school but had to be moved to a state (boarding) school when my business failed and I went bankrupt fifteen years ago. Serendipitously, he actually benefited enormously from that move and he went from being an average student to an excellent one as a consequence.

The reality was that me and his mum could no longer afford the fees at his previous school and thanks to his mum’s ingenuity and craft she managed to find him a spot elsewhere at an exceptional state school, which he absolutely adored.

I am surrounded professionally by those that have had the benefit of a private education and there are clear advantages in terms of facilities, class sizes and the connections it provides - otherwise why pay all that money? It’s a natural human instinct to want the best for your own child, and I would never criticise anyone for that.

As I’ve said previously, I defend anyone’s right to make that choice but the benefits that education provides is by way of a professional service that people elect to pay for, in order to gain some clear advantage over other children. Much like instructing a lawyer to give you a perceived advantage in litigation. Those professional fees are subject to VAT, just are those of an accountant, and I fail to see how private education should be any different.

It will mean some children missing the cut, which is regrettable, but that is plainly the case now, by way of the foregoing increases in fees, or the cost in any event, which is completely beyond most families. There is no more tragedy in missing that cut, than the opportunities that are missing from many children’s lives every day. Life isn’t fair and never will be, but charging VAT on school fees is a very small step in making our society ever so slightly fairer overall.

Beer duty goes up, some pubs will close as a consequence. It’s a shame on an individual level, but there will always be cases of particular hardship when it comes to the implementation broad taxation policy. This is no different.
There endeth the debate.
 
I am surrounded professionally by those that have had the benefit of a private education and there are clear advantages in terms of facilities, class sizes and the connections it provides - otherwise why pay all that money? It’s a natural human instinct to want the best for your own child, and I would never criticise anyone for that.

I am too as well as most of my secondary school being privately educated at primary. My experiences made me actively choose not to send my kids privately. There’s absolutely benefits but there’s a fair amount of negatives too. I don’t begrudge people making either decision.
 

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