The charge of 20% VAT on private school fees is set for 1 January 2025 with no exemption for pre-payments, explains Angela Bedi, senior technical writer at Croner-i
The Treasury has published draft legislation on the removal of the VAT exemption for private school fees as part of a technical consultation ahead of its inclusion in the Finance Bill 2024–25 following the autumn Budget.
The current exemption on private school fees is to be removed by the introduction of exceptions to Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA 1994, Sch. 9, Grp. 6) for:
• the provision of education by a private school, other than in a nursery class;
• the provision of vocational training by a private school; and
• the provision of board and lodging which is closely related to either of those.
The changes will be implemented from 1 January 2025 with anti-forestalling measures to ensure that any advance payments made after 29 July 2024 will be subject to VAT.
