VAT Training: Advanced VAT

Event Description

Bursars, Finance Staff

We are pleased to welcome CT (formerly Chiene + Tait) to deliver Advanced VAT training for SCIS. 

This session is aimed at preparing Bursars and finance teams on what to consider and expect if they need to become VAT registered as a result of potential changes to the VAT rules on education.

With a General Election now announced for 4^th July this year, it has been put forward that one manifesto pledge from the Labour Party would be to introduce VAT to school fees and other educational activities undertaken by independent schools.  This change would mean that most independent schools will need to register for VAT.

This session will focus on the practical aspects schools need to consider and will offer guidance on what measures schools could take to their systems and practices to make the process easier.

The following will be covered during this session:

VAT Treatment of Income - advanced 

• Schools have more than just fee income.  Different VAT rates may apply to certain income streams and, potentially, other exemptions may be used for certain activities (i.e. board and accommodation).

VAT Recovery – Partial Exemption 

• If schools will have a mix of taxable and exempt income, they will be “partially exempt” which means an additional calculation is required to calculate the amount of VAT recoverable on a quarterly and annual basis. We will outline this process using a practical example. 

Capital Costs – Historic & Future VAT Recovery 

• If schools become VAT registered, retrospective and future capital costs could potentially be recoverable.  We will outline the timescales to consider and what type of project might be eligible. 

International issues (agents) 

• There are specific VAT rules for international services, particularly those received from suppliers (e.g. agents) based outside the UK.  We will look at how these should be treated from  a VAT perspective.

Land & Property Issues 

• Land and property is one of the most complicated areas of VAT as a number of VAT reliefs and exemptions are available, and the value of these transactions make it imperative that the VAT issues are dealt with correctly. 

Use of subsidiary companies 

• Some independent schools have or are considering setting up subsidiary companies.  Whilst this is often not necessary VAT driven, we will outline what the VAT consequences of this might be. 

VAT grouping

• Where additional legal entities are set up, one way to reduce the administration time and costs is to form a VAT group.  This is sometimes not beneficial so we will outline the pros and cons of VAT grouping.

Q&A

• Any questions you may have

 ***Meeting link will be sent 24 hours in advance***