VAT on private school fees has had ‘damaging effect’ on children, court hears
Several private schools, as well as some pupils and their parents, have launched a legal challenge over the government imposing VAT on private schools.
The claimants, which include children and families at faith schools and families who have sent their children with special educational needs (SEN) to private school, are taking the legal action against the Treasury.
They claim the policy of applying VAT to fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law.
Pic: PA
The Treasury is defending the challenges, with HMRC and the Department for Education (DfE) also taking part.
Dozens of supporters of the challenge appeared at the High Court in London for the first day of the hearing on Tuesday.
Lord David Pannick KC, representing one group of children and their parents, said that for some children currently in private schools, their needs are not met by state schools in their area, or at all, but the new law applies “irrespective” of a family’s need.
“The application of the law does have a damaging effect on individual children and their families,” he added.
As well as religious beliefs and SEN, the High Court was told some children are privately educated because of a need for a single-sex environment because of previous abuse, or because they are only temporarily in the UK and need to be educated in line with their home national curriculum.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Jeremy Hyam KC, representing two children with SEN in private schools, told the court that at least 35,000 children could be displaced from private schools and into state institutions because of increased costs.
He continued in written submissions: “That displacement will have a particularly prejudicial impact for displaced SEN children compared with those entering the state sector who do not have SEN.”
He said that provision for SEN pupils in the state system “is in crisis” and that the transition “is likely to have a highly detrimental effect” on pupils who have to move schools.
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Bruno Quintavalle, representing four small Christian schools and parents who have sent their children to them, said the “ill thought-out proposal introduced in haste” placed parents in “impossible positions”.
He said in written submissions: “The small independent schools that are likely to suffer most from this are those that serve minority religious communities.”
He continued: “The claimant parents are not prepared to send their children to state schools, because the secular education provided by the state sector would oblige the children to be educated in a way contrary to the parents’ religious convictions or would otherwise expose their children to risks which they cannot in conscience assume.”
But Sir James Eadie KC, representing the Treasury, HMRC and the DfE, said abolishing the VAT exemption for private school fees was a prominent feature of Labour’s manifesto at the last general election and is expected to yield between £1.5bn and £1.7bn per year.
He continued in written submissions: “Parents wishing to opt out of the system of universally accessible state-funded education are free to choose any private education for their child that they can afford, or to educate their child at home.
“The fact that measures of general application, such as taxes, minimum wage laws, national insurance, etc, affect the cost of providing such a service, and therefore its purchase price, does not make those measures an interference with freedom to offer or receive private education.”
The hearing before Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain is due to conclude on Thursday.
A decision is expected in writing at a later date.
Australia’s financial intelligence agency has told inactive registered crypto exchanges to withdraw their registrations or risk having them canceled over fears that the dormant firms could be used for scams.
There are currently 427 crypto exchanges registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), but the agency said on April 29 that it suspects a significant number are inactive and possibly vulnerable to being bought and co-opted by criminals.
The agency is contacting any so-called digital currency exchanges (DCEs) that appear to no longer be trading, and AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said they’ll be told to “use it or lose it.”
“Businesses registered with AUSTRAC are required to keep their details up to date; this includes details about services that are no longer provided,” he added.
Businesses wanting to offer Australians conversions between cash and crypto, including crypto ATM providers, must first register with AUSTRAC, which monitors for crimes including money laundering, terror financing and tax evasion.
The agency can cancel a registration if it has reasonable grounds to believe the business is no longer active or offering crypto-related services.
Ten firms have had their AUSTRAC registration canceled since 2019, with the most recent being FTX Express in June 2024, the local subsidiary of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.
AUSTRAC to launch public list of registered exchanges
Following its blitz on inactive crypto exchanges, AUSTRAC said it will publish a list of registered exchanges to help Australians verify legitimate providers.
Thomas said the goal is to make it harder for criminals to scam people and improve the integrity and accuracy of AUSTRAC’s register.
“If a DCE does intend to offer a service, they need to contact us otherwise we will cancel the registration and this information will be added to the register,” he said.
“Members of the public should feel confident that they can identify legitimate cryptocurrency providers that are registered and subject to regulatory oversight and that we are driving criminals out of this industry,” Thomas added.
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In February, the Anti-Money Laundering regulator took action against 13 remittance service providers and crypto exchanges, with over 50 others still being investigated regarding possible compliance issues.
Six providers were refused registration renewal on the grounds that key personnel were either convicted, prosecuted, or charged with a serious offense.
Australia has yet to pass crypto regulations. In August 2022, the ruling center-left Labor Party initiated a series of industry consultations to draft a crypto regulatory framework.
In March, the government proposed a new crypto framework regulating exchanges under existing financial services laws ahead of a federal election slated for May 3.
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The government wants councils to crush more vans used to fly-tip rubbish, as it announces a crackdown on the illegal dumping of waste.
No new funding is being given to local authorities for the initiatives, with ministers saying the seven percent raise announced in the budget can be used.
As part of the announcement, the government has also proposed that fly-tippers could face up to five years in prison, although this would require a change in the law.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed attacked the Conservatives’ record. Pic: PA
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Councils will get much more aggressive against fly-tippers and that includes using the latest technology, things like the new mobile CCTV cameras and drones to identify, track and then seize the vehicles that are being used for fly-tipping to a yard like this and crush them.
“That’s both as a punishment for those people who are dumping the rubbish but also as a deterrent for those who are thinking about doing it.”
He added: “We’re also looking to change the law so that those rogue operators who take rubbish from someone’s home and then dump it on a nearby road – they were getting away almost scot-free under the previous government – they will now be looking at potentially five-year prison sentences.”
The minister claimed the fly-tipping was “out of control” under the last government.
Data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) shows local authorities in England dealt with a record 1.15 million incidents last year – a 20% increase from 2018/19.
Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy said: “We’re determined to bring these criminals to justice through tough enforcement action and prosecutions.
“That’s why we support the government’s crackdown on waste criminals, which will ensure we have the right powers to shut rogue operators out of the waste industry.”
However, the Conservatives claimed that rubbish is “piling high” in areas like Birmingham as refuse workers strike against a pay and jobs offer from the Labour-run council.
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Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Wherever Labour is in charge, waste is piling high – like in Birmingham, where Labour’s inability to stand up to their union paymasters has left rat-infested rubbish littered across the street.
“And with statistics showing that of the 50 worst local areas for fly-tipping, 72% are Labour controlled, it is clear that voting Labour gets you rubbish and rats.
“So the British public deserve real action, not this series of reheated announcements and policies already introduced by previous governments that Labour is peddling.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Under the Conservatives’ watch, local communities have been plagued by a fly-tipping epidemic.
“From overflowing bins to piles of hazardous waste, fly-tipping is blighting our landscapes, poisoning livestock on farming land and causing misery for residents.
“Enough is enough.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling for a fly-tipping fighting fund, to push for stronger local enforcement and tougher penalties for offenders.”
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly told Republican lawmakers that the chamber would address a bill on stablecoin regulation before the May 26 Memorial Day holiday.
According to an April 29 Politico report, Thune made the comments in a closed-door meeting with Republican senators, who hold a slim majority in the chamber. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, was introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty in February and passed the Senate Banking Committee in March.
Thune did not mention any crypto or blockchain-related bills in his public comments on US President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has signed several executive orders with the potential to affect US crypto policy, including one affecting stablecoins. Still, many of the actions do not carry the force of law without an act of Congress.
Related: $649B stablecoin transfers linked to illicit activity in 2024: Report
The proposed GENIUS bill could essentially restrict any entity other than a “permitted payment stablecoin issuer” from issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States. The House of Representatives, also controlled by Republicans, has proposed a companion bill to the legislation: the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or STABLE Act.
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The president’s executive order, signed on Jan. 23, established a working group to study the potential creation and maintenance of a national crypto stockpile and a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Republican lawmakers followed by introducing the STABLE and GENIUS acts.
Trump also introduced the order before World Liberty Financial, a crypto firm backed by the president’s family, launched its US-dollar pegged USD1 stablecoin. Many Democratic lawmakers said that Trump’s ties to the firm, coupled with his political influence and position, could present an “extraordinary conflict of interest that could create unprecedented risks to our financial system” as Congress considers the two stablecoin bills.
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