Parents swerve private school VAT raid

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Tuesday, 5 August 2025 Welcome to From the Editor – the very best from our newsroom delivered to your inbox daily. Labour’s tax raid on private schools continues to unravel. Poppy Wood, our Education Editor, reveals that parents have made pre-payments of more than £500m to avoid VAT on school fees, up from £121m a year earlier. She explains that it is middle-class Britons who have been left bearing the brunt of Labour’s policy, with the most wealthy parents able to pay up front. Elsewhere, Michael Vaughan has weighed in on England’s loss to India. The sensational finale was befitting of a brilliant series, but where does it rank in the all-time list? Tim Wigmore, our Deputy Cricket Correspondent, has the answer. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. Chris Evans, Editor P.S. You can enjoy three months’ free access to The Telegraph. Cancel at any time. Today’s headlines Jay Blades charged with rape Iran asks Taliban for ‘kill list’ so it can hunt down MI6 spies Corbyn hits back at Rayner’s war on allotments Tommy Robinson arrested over alleged assault at St Pancras station Dame Stella Rimington, the first female director general of MI5, dies State pension age to hit 80 without reforms, expert warns Tourists could have to pay $15k deposit to holiday in US Hard work should pay Unlock quality journalism that champions free enterprise Enjoy three months’ free access to The Telegraph. Cancel at any time. Subscribe now   Parents pay £500m to beat private school VAT raid Poppy Wood Education Editor   Labour has repeatedly stated that its tax raid on private schools will target the wealthiest families in Britain. However, Telegraph analysis shows the “Robin Hood” policy may have done nothing of the sort. The latest private school accounts reveal that the UK’s richest families paid hundreds of millions of pounds upfront to avoid VAT on fees before it came into effect. The top 50 private schools saw an eye-watering £515m flood through their fee prepayment schemes last year – up from £121m in 2023. That includes Eton College, which saw the total in its fees in advance scheme jump from £16.6m in 2023 to £52.7m last year. Brighton College, the most expensive private school in the UK, recorded total prepaid fees of £50.1m in last year’s accounts – up from £4.1m in 2023. The latest financial accounts mostly cover the year up to 31 July 2024 – two days after a government deadline came into force clamping down on prepayment schemes being used as a tax loophole. It means the wealthiest parents will, on the face of it, avoid Labour’s VAT raid with middle-class Britons left bearing the brunt. This will pose all sorts of complications for the Government, including a potentially serious blow to its net revenue forecasts from the 20 per cent levy on private schools. The Treasury has insisted that it factored the use of prepayment schemes into its predictions, but the vast sums involved are likely to eclipse expectations. Tax experts told The Telegraph that the Government would cause expensive legal battles if it tried to recoup the money by claiming misuse of prepayment schemes. Either way, Labour’s promise to target the most affluent families appears to have fallen at the first hurdle. As one expert put it: “Only the very rich can afford to make those advance payments… so I’m not entirely sure they [the Government] have managed to do what they intended to do.” Read the full story here ➤   Opinion and analysis   Robert Tombs Telegraph columnist Being English is not a matter of your ancestry Continue reading ➤     Celia Walden Telegraph columnist Does Whitehall really have nothing better to do than spend our money on ‘trans listening circles’? Continue reading ➤     Michael Vaughan Cricket commentator and Ashes-winning England captain Let’s be honest, England should have won Continue reading ➤   Make your voice heard Join our journalists in conversation on today’s biggest topics Enjoy three months’ free access to The Telegraph. Cancel at any time. Subscribe now   Must reads ‘I worked with Steve Wright for 30 years. The BBC has tarnished his legacy’ Anthony James and Steve Wright In 1994, 29 died when an RAF Chinook crashed. 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But in Lazenby’s waning years – which have found him struggling with the early stages of dementia – Shriver has rediscovered many of the qualities that drew her to him in the first place. Hundreds of readers wrote in and commented on how moving they found Shriver’s words. Let us know what you think in the comments. Continue reading ➤   Discuss Every day, our journalists and readers discuss the day’s biggest issues on our app and website. Today, Rob Crilly, our Chief US Correspondent, responds to a reader comment on his article My five days on the road with Trump revealed a man in complete control. Anna Bramwell Rob’s comment that in four years he never saw Biden in the press cabin is pretty telling. I wonder, did the author ask Biden questions such as he put to Trump, asking if Trump was just trying to deflect attention from Epstein?   Rob Crilly I didn’t put it in the piece because I wrote much of this with my laptop balanced on my knees on a helicopter, but I have since been able to check, and I think Mr Biden only twice “gaggled” with press at the back of the plane: Returning from Tel Aviv in 2023 and last year coming back from Austin, Texas. He certainly didn’t do it when I was on board. Coming up today Orlando Bird, our Reader Correspondent, will be responding to letters from readers at 2pm. Also at 2pm, Dia Chakravarty will be joining you in the comments on her piece, Britain’s workers are being bled dry to nourish a new elite class.   Enjoy our best experience Join us today and you’ll also unlock our award-winning app Enjoy three months’ free access to The Telegraph. Cancel at any time. Subscribe now   Listen Click below to enjoy one of our agenda-setting podcasts   Puzzles Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.   The solution to yesterday’s clue was GREENROOM. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle.   Newsletters Read and sign up to our newsletters Telegraph Money • Wednesday Want to be richer? Make your money work harder with our experts + Sign up   Ukraine: The Latest • Friday Critical insights from the hosts of the world’s most listened-to podcast on the war + Sign up   Business Briefing • Daily Step inside the C-suite with the City’s best-connected journalists + Sign up   Three months’ free access Subscribe now

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