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Education, education, education

16 July 2013 / Mike Thexton
Issue: 4411 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , VAT

Advisers, taxpayers and the Revenue have something to learn from the Brockenhurst College case

KEY POINTS

  • A summary of the legislation relating to the VAT exemption for education.
  • HMRC’s guidance on education and “ordinarily taught”.
  • Examples show where the dividing lines lie.
  • Sporting activities are evidence of some muddle in this area.
  • The importance of ascertaining who is supplying what and to whom.

Some VAT rules cause surprising difficulties. They ought to be straightforward but when you stare hard at the borderlines they start to blur. One such is the exemption of education. Several recent cases have shown that it is not easy to determine what is covered by the law or by HMRC’s policy; and one produced a surprising decision that is subject to appeal.

Legislative sources

The source of the UK law is the Principal VAT Directive (PVD) ...

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