Private schools do not get Government funding in the United Kingdom. While they have to be registered with the Government and get inspected on a regular basis, like any other school, they’re funded by school fees and gifts rather than the Government.
Most private schools in the UK have charitable status, allowing them to take advantage of various tax concessions – to be eligible, they must prove that they provide public benefit.
Yes, private schools in the UK do not typically receive direct government funding. Private schools, also known as independent schools, are funded primarily through tuition fees paid by parents or guardians of the students. These schools are privately owned and operated and are not maintained or financed by the government.
However, it’s important to note that private schools in the UK can still receive certain forms of indirect government support. For example, they may qualify for charitable status, which provides them with tax benefits. Additionally, private schools are subject to regulations and inspections by government bodies such as the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services, and Skills (Ofsted). However, these inspections focus on the quality of education and not on financial support.
In contrast, state-funded schools in the UK, known as maintained schools, are directly funded by the government and are free for students to attend.
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Is a donation to a private school tax deductible?
private schools in the UK – In short, no. However, there are ways to reduce private school fees while also paying less tax, easing the pressure. We’ve outlined some of them here so that you can make the best decisions for your family.
Set up a family business
If you decide to go down this route, the grandparents will need to set up a family business and name the children as shareholders. You can then fund private school fees by paying out dividends to the children, which will be entirely tax-free if it is within their tax allowance. If the children don’t have any additional income or earnings, they’ll be able to use their personal tax allowance, which stands at £12,570 per year for 2022/2023.
Assets like property or investments, which generate income, can be allocated to the business by the grandparents. Remember, it needs to be the grandparents who create the business instead of the parents – when parents gift to children, it could incur a tax charge.
Get grandparents involved
Grandparents might be willing to contribute as part of a broader effort towards intergenerational planning, particularly as doing so can reduce their estate’s value for inheritance tax purposes. If they give a gift and survive for at least seven years after doing so, the gift will be free from inheritance tax. Meanwhile, grandparents can also make the most of their annual gift exemption of £3,000 or make regular gifts out of surplus income.
An alternative for grandparents who want to help out is to set up a Bare Trust. A Bare Trust is created when a gift is made into a savings or investment account, with the intention of creating a trust. In most cases, there are two adult trustees, while the child is the beneficiary. Of course, any gifts made to a Bare Trust will be exempt from inheritance tax if the gift giver survives for seven years, while the grandparents can also still contribute their annual gift exemption or regular gifts out of surplus income.
With a Bare Trust, any income or gains would be payable to the beneficiaries or children in this case, not the grandparents, which is likely to be within the child’s personal tax allowance.
Use offshore bonds
Another option for parents or grandparents is to invest a lump sum in an offshore bond, naming themselves as the trustees and the children as the beneficiaries. It’s easy to split the bond into multiple policy segments, each one encashed to pay for private school fees each year or term. Meanwhile, the parents or grandparents can invest in an investment bond over the course of at least five years.
The policy segments can then be assigned to the children when they reach private school-age via a Bare Trust. As a result – providing that the parents or grandparents have invested wisely and reviewed their investment on a regular basis – the tax on the gain would, in theory, be payable by the children. However, as it should be within their personal tax allowances, it ought to be tax-free.
Use pension money
Under the current pension rules, at age 55, you’re able to take a quarter of your pension as a tax-free sum. As such, you may decide to use this sum to cover the cost of private school fees. In particular, this can make sense if you’re a higher or additional rate taxpayer, as you won’t have any additional tax to pay. Then, it’s possible to leave the rest of your pension invested so that you’re covered for income in retirement.
Of course, many people continue working past the age of 55, but you can take the lump sum even if you’re still working. By the time you’re 55, your children might be past school age too, but there’s even a way around this if you need to pay the fees while you are younger.
What you could do is increase your mortgage to pay for the school fees, and then, when you get to age 55, you can withdraw the lump sum from your pension, and pay it off. This is not a decision to take lightly however so it’s important to engage with a financial adviser before doing so, as it might not make financial sense.
Pay upfront
Another option for reducing the average cost of private education is to pay the fees upfront in a lump sum. It’s something many private schools will allow you to do, and it can save you money in the long run as private school fees can inflate relatively quickly.
Some schools will offer investment schemes, wherein parents pay a lump sum in advance which is then invested by the school into low-risk investments. Since private schools have charitable status, the returns on the investment will be tax-free. If you were to make the same investments yourself, you’d be in line for smaller returns because they wouldn’t be tax-free. In fact, you might have to pay 40-45% tax.
In comparison, by paying private school fees upfront, you won’t have to pay any tax. Plus, not only will you benefit, but your child and their school will too. As you’ve paid upfront, you’ll be in line for a discount from the school, which will then keep what remains from the returns.