Labour confirms exact date private schools to be charged 20% VAT

Private schools are set to have their tax-exempt status rescinded in just five months, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.

As part of the move, as Reeves announced today in Parliament, a 20 per cent VAT charge will be added to fees by January 1, 2025.

If the roughly 2,500 private schools in the UK choose to pass on the tax rise to parents, it will mean that fees will rise in the middle of the school year.

The Government is also set to levy a charge to all fees which have been paid in advance – in a bid to prevent schools and parents skirting around the tax rise via a prepayment loophole.

The crackdown on the schools’ tax status had been a core tenet of Labour’s manifesto earlier this year.

Ahead of the General Election, future Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the move to GB News, telling The People’s Channel the policy was about “fairness”.

Cooper said: “We think this is about fairness. Other organisations and institutions have to pay VAT.

“We do think it’s fair for private schools to pay VAT – and for that money to be used to recruit 6,500 teachers for our state schools right across the country.

“This will help to make sure we can get mental health professionals into our schools because there is a mental health crisis going on with our children.”

More to follow…