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Welsh Government ends tax break for independent schools

By Emily Price
Girls walking to school. Image: Ian West/PA Wire

The Welsh Government is ending business rates relief for some fee-charging schools to use the funding to support local public services.

All charities currently receive at least 80% relief from their non-domestic rates bills, including some fee-charging schools.

The Welsh Government says that this tax break will bring independent schools with charitable status in line with other independent schools in Wales for the purposes of non-domestic rates.

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Consultation

The Scottish Government has already removed charitable relief from independent schools and the UK Government is planning similar changes in England.

The Welsh Government consulted on the change last year.

Feedback has led to changes to ensure the relief still applies to independent special schools where most or all learners have been placed in the school by the local authority as part of delivering the additional learning provision set out in their individual development plan.

The change will come into effect on 1 April 2025, if it is approved by the Senedd.

Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language said: "We believe independent schools with charitable status in Wales should be treated in the same way as those which are not charities.

"By removing this tax break, we can free up as much as £1.3m every year to support local public services."

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18 comments

Steve. Thomas

About time

Reply
John Ellis

Independent schools are businesses; not their fault, because they have to pay their way. There may be a case for tax exemption for private schools which are clearly 'not for profit' and particularly for those which can demonstrate an ability to provide special needs education not readily available in the state sector. But otherwise they should be subject to taxation in just the same way as other businesses.

Reply
John

I remember asking a Labour MS over christmas how much this would make WG. They had no idea. But above Drakeford says 1.3m. This is better than nothing, but also represents about 1/3 the budget which is being cut from schools in one local area in north wales. It's a drop in the ocean. You wonder why so much discussion has been about the removal about VAT exemption instead of much bigger challenge which is school are facing a massive real terms cut.

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Evan Aled Bayton

All charities should lose tax exemption.

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Richard Carpenter

Why? If I give my money to a charity I expect the charity to use it to the benefit of someone or something, it is not for the government of the day!

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Vincent

Charities should be for helping the needy. When Johnson's luxury redecoration of Number 10 became a charitable activity it should've triggered a rethink.

Reply
Howie

Will this apply to the church aided schools as well, of which there are many and have the backing of the various church bodies.

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Vincent

This article isn't about VAT.

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J Jones

Next step is to stop 'charities' set up by parents to evade taxation by spending the money on their children's private school fees.

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Richard Carpenter

If we had decent schools in Wales that might be a fair point, but education in Wales is appalling, abysmal, so why wouldn't someone who can afford it not choose to use the private sector?

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Vincent

No-one is stopping them. They can just do it without state subsidy.

Reply

In reply to Vincent

Chris Hiorns

Foriegn adult students studying at universities in Wales pay no VAT but you think it should be imposed on Welsh children. Who are you?

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Richard Carpenter

You shouldn't expect any different from Welsh Labour, they are more socialist than Westminster labour, nigh on communist parasites, ergo they will disincentivise anything entrepreneurial. They would like to see all private education done away with to better be able to brainwash Welsh children into their way of thinking, individualism a major no no.

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Chris Hiorns

My father went to one of the best schools in Wales. The Lewis school in Bargoed. Neil Kinnock was in the year below him. One of the first ten people to work for Microsoft was in the same year who later invested in a coffee chain in South Wales to put some money back into the community. My father was highly successful in the city attaining leadership positions. Sadly it was a grammar so came under attack for the excellence of its education. No Labour continues to target any school which achieves academic success for its students on the grounds all must receive an equally bad education. They seem to have lost the plot. Given we live in a global economy and we should be cheered by strong achievement as beneficial to the wider economy in Wales not attempting to destroy it.

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Vincent

Why should these opportunities only be available to the few? This isn't a socialist point. By excluding the majority of kids we exclude the majority of talent from the top jobs which lowers standards across the private sector and government.

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Chris Hiorns

Grammar schools gave every child who was committed to academic excellence a chance regardless of background but Labour still hated them. It follows a false belief that for one to succeed others must fail and fails to understand that one person achieving success does not lessen others achievement.

Reply

In reply to Chris Hiorns

Vincent

But that system was simply aimed at getting the brightest and best into Oxbridge as though that were the only route to success. And we see today the damaging consequences of that narrow gene pool in government with a growth policy literally designed by Oxbridge grads to enrich their own patch at the expense of everyone else. The genuinely talented, were they not excluded by this legacy of empire process, would realise that the UK will be richer overall if the focus is on growing the underperforming regions and nations, boosting their GDP by an amount that when combined would dwarf what could be squeezed out of the south east.

Reply

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