HMRC could claw back VAT from private school advance fee schemes, experts say | Private schools

Money saved using schemes to avoid paying VAT on private school fees could be clawed back by the government, tax experts have said, after it was revealed that the schemes had raised more than £500m.

Analysis by the Daily Telegraph found that the UK’s wealthiest private schools took in £500m last year through “fee in advance” schemes. Parents who paid before the official announcement that VAT would be added to school fees hoped to avoid paying the extra 20% applied from January this year.

But tax experts who spoke to the Guardian said HMRC would scrutinise the schemes to check whether they included specific details such as set prices, without which parents could be vulnerable to VAT being demanded in years to come.

It could result in some of England’s most well-known schools,…