Would tax on private schools be unfair on parents? Feat. Mike Parry & Kevin Maguire | Storm Huntley 

Storm should get a fair proportion of callers for and against any subject she is discussing. This was very one-sided on vat in private education. The caller saying her husband had to take on a second job to help pay for a private education is lucky to have a choice. Parents who have got to take a second job or even a third job to pay bills and feed their kids have not got the same choices. The parents complaining about the charitable portion to private schools are very greedy to expect help because of what they choose. Parents who can afford a private education can not be subsidised any longer. They will just have to make different choices if they can not afford the full costs. MORALS NOT MONEY STOP THE TORIES STOP THE LIES STOP MONES

Private schools are a luxury and are businesses that make profit. The taxpayer should not be subsidising luxuries. Mike Parry and some of the callers are treating it as though it's a right, rather than a privilege.

I totally agree with it Private schools are not a charity and it’s a choice to send children there so why should the tax payer subsidise them

If the parents can no longer afford it then surely they just need to get better jobs or cut down on their avocados, take away coffees, mobile phones and overseas holidays. Isn't that what they say to people not able to afford to buy their own home.

The answer is surely to improve the quality of the state schools.

Mike Parry is a Prat!

If you pay for private tuition for your child who’s at a state school you pay vat. I’m not advocating scrapping Private Schools but why do rich people expect tax breaks the poor don’t get. Obviously what Private schools teach is talking over others very rudely and shout. If poor people ask for help their spongers , the use of private schools by the Rich have allowed the Tories to neglect state schools.

Totallt agree with the last caller. I had a fairly privilleged upbringing but went to state school. Going to state school made me part of the community. I had friends from all different backgrounds and it meant I was aware of the privilege I had and an understanding of how unfair our society can be.

While state school have to pay vat 😂

It's a tax on education/ Starmer & Labour will send our kids to the bottom of the global education system.

Why should independent schools foot the bill for state schools.

How many Labour mps are sending or have sent their children to a private school.

C'ant buy designer clothes & have holidays, the poor loves, join the rest of us ,there are people with 2 jobs who struggle to heat their homes & eat properly employed no doubt by others who send their children to the private keep out schools.

I dont think the schools will pass on the full 20% to the parents. I think they will pass on 10-15% and then cut elsewhere. Examples of the cuts would be less bursaries - so fewer subsidised places for those who can pass the entrance exams, but don't have the money. Also the free camps during the holidays for single parent families etc will stop. Focus on providing money to state education.

My brother went to private school then he drunk himself to death !

VAT =value added tax It's about buying an advantage for their children Absolutely no problem with that My problem is why do they need a tax break to give their children an advantage over everyone else It's a ridiculous argument Mike Perry

I don't think any other country taxes education. If this is a general policy then we should also consider taxing university education. Given that private schools and universities attract a lot of foreigners, may be we should tax them while we keep the bills for the locals tax free?

Why do parents buy a private education for their children? Is it a selfless sacrifice to help the government provide more school places and resources to the general population? Of course not. It is because they know that having a private education will give their children an advantage over their peers whose parents cannot (or, in some cases, choose not to) afford a private education. It's not merely a product of quality of instruction or class size either: in addition to being educational institutions, private schools are, inevitably, social institutions, and they function as exclusive social clubs for children from affluent families. When you buy a private education for your child, you also receive as an added bonus a ready-made network of influential connections that will benefit that child for the rest of her or his life. They will form strong bonds with peers who will one day inherit wealth, property, businesses, political legacies and social standing that others outside their school will have to fight very hard to gain. A private education is therefore an extremely valuable and, understandably, an extremely costly product. A private education is an unfair advantage that one can, provided they have the means, purchase for their child. I frankly struggle to understand how anyone justifies giving people a tax break to purchase such a product.

Bloody right!

We need our educated workers. Lets reduce the number of schools.

My brother went to a private school it didn’t do him any good he drunk far too much and it killed him!

Mike Parry isn't a very good advert for private schools he's a pratt

Of course its not fair. These schools are non-profit making organisations like, for example, a sports club. All profits are invested in the schools and nobody makes money out of them. As part of teh agreement on non-profit making status, these schools open up their facilities to teh state and also private clubs. This policy will actually lose money for teh tax payer as they talk about £4k per child per year but ignore the fact that if you charge VAT you can also reclaim VAT on what you buy. So where are those figures? Also for every child taken out of private schools it will cost the tax payer £7000 a year. What would be fair is to charge VAT to the parents but give them back £7000 per year that they are not using by sending their children to private rather than state. These parents are paying twice, once through taxes and once to the private schools - its just the politics of envy where the champagne socialists want to make they pay again through VAT. They dont care though, Starmer and his buddues are all millionaires anyway - even Corbyn.

Was that caller pissed??

Just work a bit harder I’m sure you can do it. Maybe take a second job. Let’s be honest most of them are paying for this through trusts. So they avoid tax going in to do this.

yes