Guidance on school fees VAT could be better

On 10 October HMRC issued guidance for private schools which will be required to account for VAT on fees as a result of new legislation (tinyurl.com/hmrcchregoodsserv).

The guidance was intended to clarify the position for schools most of whom will have had very little previous exposure to the often bizarre world of VAT but it raises more questions than it answers. This would be an undesirable state of affairs at the best of times but set against a backdrop of decreasing service levels at HMRC and increasing numbers of taxpayers reporting the negative impact that is having on their businesses it becomes simply unacceptable. Schools will be forgiven for thinking they have been thrown in the deep end without so much as an armband in sight.

We are in the unfortunate position of having been involved in discussions with HMRC on one...