Labour to charge VAT on private school fees but won't scrap charitable status
28.09.2023 - 12:51
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Labour plans to charge VAT on private school fees but won't scrap their charitable status if it wins the general election.
The party said it no longer has to stop private schools from being charities to charge 20 per cent VAT on fees and make them start paying business rates.
The move contradicts comments made by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves in 2021. She said: “Here’s the truth: private schools are not charities. And so we will end that exemption and put that money straight into our state schools. That is what a Labour government will do.”
Keeping charitable status means the schools will still have some perks. They will still be able to claim gift aid on donations and not pay tax on annual profits, which must be reinvested in education.
SNP leader Humza Yousaf and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar both attended the private Hutcheson's Grammar School in Glasgow. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair also attended the Edinburgh private school Fettes College.
Private schools in Scotland lost their charity relief rates last year. The schools no longer get charitable relief of up to 80 per cent on their bills for non-domestic rates. A resolution has also been submitted for the SNP conference to end the charitable status for private schools and to create a Scottish version of VAT to tax them properly.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said he does not believe the schools are an obstacle to opportunity, but he wants to ensure state schools are “just as good”.
He told the BBC’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast: “We have to do something about the appalling state of our schools. It is not an attack on private schools. It’s just saying an exemption you have had is going to go.”
He also told private schools they do not have to pass the
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