Musical Instruments - not paying VAT

Poppy9 · 5 September 2008 at 2:35PM

As the schools are back a quick tip to parents that if their child is having music lessons via school or studying music they should be able to reclaim the VAT or buy via their school LEA and pay only the net price.

See this site for some details

I used this scheme to purchase a brand new Yamaha 211 flute from this supplier for £254. I read the small print on the form I had from the school and found I didn't have to use their recommended supplier, I could use any. This saved me £50 on their recommended supplier. Second hand flutes in good nick sell for about £150-200 on Ebay.

Insert By Martin

As an lesser alternative, its also worth checking out the 0% interest scheme run by the arts council see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1076427

[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

drrdf4 · 10 September 2008 at 9:37AM

It seems that this opportunity applies only to students at LEA schools and not to any others of which there are many. However there does appear to be a way around this. That is for the student who is not a student at a LEA school to take music lessons at a LEA school, which is often possible.

christineperseus · 10 September 2008 at 11:28AM

Always see these things after the event.
Sad that our £450 trumpet purchased 3 years ago only sold for £75.

itathome · 10 September 2008 at 12:45PM

The same VAT guidance that allows schools / LEAs to do VAT-free instruments also covers laptops.

For the VAT geeks the guidance is V1-7 chapter 21 section 9.6.1. It can be found on the HMRC website at http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_023640&propertyType=document

or from their home page: search for "v1-7 chapter 21"

There are some caveats - like it has to be used for education, and the school must purchse the laptop and sell to parent/pupil at or below cost, but I know schools who have done it.

Some schools also operate eLearning Foundation schemes where there's a charitable element too, and hence they get another 28% off due to gift aid.
The caveats there are even more complex, but a few hundred schools operate such schemes.

Poppy9 · 10 September 2008 at 5:22PM

drrdf4 wrote: »

It seems that this opportunity applies only to students at LEA schools and not to any others of which there are many. However there does appear to be a way around this. That is for the student who is not a student at a LEA school to take music lessons at a LEA school, which is often possible.

Another option is if the LA has a music service and they do an out of hours school orchestra. I know when my DD started music lessons in school they gave her information about the County Orchestra (sounds grand but is suitable for novices). This did take place in one of the big senior schools but musicians came from all over the county from private and state schools.

tryinghardtosave_3 · 11 September 2008 at 9:54AM

hi, in addition to the schemes mentioned, does anyone know of any grants that might be available for aspiring musicians? I've found out about the Fame Academy one but it's not running at the moment. My daughter is very musical and is doing grade 7 piano, and grade 6 clarinet, but she only has a student clarinet. We have been told that she should upgrade to an intermediate one but these are pricey! She's getting a bit disillusioned because she's not getting the right sounds and is being put off her practise - says she wants to give it up. This would be a shame.
Thanks

Vital_Spark_2 · 11 September 2008 at 12:44PM

For what does LEA stand?

qazitory · 11 September 2008 at 12:55PM

Vital_Spark wrote: »

For what does LEA stand?

Is it Local Education Authority?

secgirl · 11 September 2008 at 1:57PM

Vital_Spark wrote: »

For what does LEA stand?

Local Education Authority I think. Pretty sure they only exist in England, we poor Scots have some other board in place. However if you have a child taking lessons through the school it is worth asking if they have a purchase scheme. (Or try asking suppliers - some of them have schemes too.)

Madmel · 11 September 2008 at 6:00PM

You need to be very careful about this. In the rules somewhere I think it states that the instrument will be used in school and that the school will benefit from its use. I know in my own school we (as the music staff) have to sign something to say that pupil X will use the instrument in groups Y & Z. I know that they are very particular about sticking to rules, but it needs pointing out that it's not a free-for-all and that HMRC can come & ask parents for the AVT if they suspect it's a tax dodge.

Regarding the qu from tryinghardtosave:
Have you asked your local music service or Music coordinator in your local authority? There are quite a few trust funds & grants with funds which are poorly publicised but exist to provide help to deserving cases such as your DD. Many of them only require your DD to write a letter saying what musical activity she takes part in and the amount she is after. Sometimes they wil pay half if she can raise the other half.

Hope this helps someone - sorry I don't know of any national funds for instrument, more's the pity!

pixlink · 12 September 2008 at 12:19PM

Parents can buy instruments without VAT but looking at the Suffolk LEA website it seems pointless doing this. Firstly it takes time, you have to choose the instrument, then ask your LEA to buy it from the shop and then the parent has to collect the instrument from the LEA. Also Suffolk charges a fee for this. On a £35 guitar the £5.50 fee is nearly equal to the VAT saved. This is a totally pointless and overly complicated scheme. Why don't schools just give named pupils a voucher or certificate that the shop can pass to HMRC to certify the sale was exempt from VAT.

Musical Instruments - not paying VAT

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free