(Bloomberg) -- The UK government is pushing ahead with plans to charge value-added tax on private school fees starting in January, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said Monday, after reports the move might be delayed.
The policy to levy VAT at 20% on private education was one of the few taxes Labour pledged to raise in the general election campaign, and the new government in the summer said Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves would introduce it in January — in the middle of the school year.
But over the weekend, the Observer newspaper said the tax measure might have to be delayed to prevent administrative problems, a report confirmed to Bloomberg by government aides. On Monday, Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, used a regular briefing with reporters to reject the idea.
“There has been no change in those deadlines,” Pares said. The plans to bring the tax in from January have “provided schools and parents with a number of months to prepare,” he said.
Labour estimated in its manifesto that levying VAT and business rates on private schools would generate £1.5 billion ($2 billion) a year by the 2028-29 tax year.
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