Teacher purchasing items for classroom - reclaim VAT?

marksandsparksgal

Hi everyone,

I've done a search online but no answer either way. I think the answer is probably no but is it possible for a primary teacher to reclaim the VAT on things I've bought for my classroom?

Things include: storage boxes for books, books to be used as teaching resources, cutlery drainers to be used as table pen pots etc. I've got them as cheaply as I can but all in all I've probably spent about £100!

Classroom was bare when I inherited it so these things are essential and I don't think there is the cash in the school budget to put a claim in. I don't begrudge buying such things as I want to make my classroom welcoming for the children I'll be teaching but it would be nice not to have to pay the VAT!

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank you and have a great evening all.

Gertie_Walker

You can only reclaim VAt on purchases made in a business if yu are VAT registered. As you are not in business, you cannot be VAT registered.
The question is, how much more are you going to subsidise the LA for? I think you need to at least make a claim to your employer.

marksandsparksgal

Hi Gertie,

Thank you for the quick reply. I thought it would be the case!

I will look into making a claim, or at least trying to get a contribution but I think it's highly unlikely. You would be amazed at the amount of things teachers buy, not because we have to but because we want to. It's an age-old debate but we're all mugs. Heh. Thanks again.

JasonLVC

Any employee can make a purchase of goods or services themselves.....

....Provided the employee then submits an expense claim form and is fully reimbursed by the employer then the expenditure then becomes that of the employer and the employer can then reclaim the VAT where appropriate.

So you could buy a laptop on your own credit card, reclaim the cost via works expenses, laptop now belongs to work, work can reclaim the VAT even though the receipt isn't addressed to the works.

However....you don't say what type of school your work for. If this is a private (fee paying) school, the school will most likely not be registered for VAT as the supply of edcation for a fee is exempt in VAT law. This means the school cannot register for VAT and thus cannot reclaim it.

If you work for a state funded school (grant maintained or ordinary state school), then these are funded by the LEA and are usually VAT registered and this VAT can be reclaimed in part under s.33 regulations which allows government funded bodies such as schools to reclaim all their VAT.

* I've had to re-read this post three times to check for typing accuracy and spelling/grammar, what with you being a teacher, I've had to up my usual posting standards.......

meg72

marksandsparksgal wrote: »

Hi Gertie,

Thank you for the quick reply. I thought it would be the case!

I will look into making a claim, or at least trying to get a contribution but I think it's highly unlikely. You would be amazed at the amount of things teachers buy, not because we have to but because we want to. It's an age-old debate but we're all mugs. Heh. Thanks again.

No I would not be amazed at the amount of things teachers buy, and NO you are not a mug but a lovely teacher, my daughter is one too. Bless you.

TM1976

Probably not, some of these things won't have VAT anyway.

It may be possible to claim income tax relief on some of these things though:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM70720.htm

GavB79

JasonLVC wrote: »

So you could buy a laptop on your own credit card, reclaim the cost via works expenses, laptop now belongs to work, work can reclaim the VAT even though the receipt isn't addressed to the works.

This is incorrect - if you purchase anything on a credit card your school cannot (should not) reclaim the VAT back, you have to have bought it with cash or debit card.
It's to do with ownership of goods passing to the CC company or something, I can't remember exactly why but I work in school finance and have been on a specific VAT course, and reclaiming VAT from CC purchases is a definite no-no.

TM1976

GavB79 wrote: »

This is incorrect - if you purchase anything on a credit card your school cannot (should not) reclaim the VAT back, you have to have bought it with cash or debit card.
It's to do with ownership of goods passing to the CC company or something, I can't remember exactly why but I work in school finance and have been on a specific VAT course, and reclaiming VAT from CC purchases is a definite no-no.

I don't agree with this it doesn't make any difference whether it's on credit card or not but the OP probably can't claim because the school isn't actually going to reimburse the cost - also it's likely the school isn't registered for VAT so can't claim the inputs back.

GavB79

You may not agree with it, but it is the case, at least in the Kent LA.
Also, it is highly likely a state school will be VAT registered under the umbrella of the local authority because education is an exempt supply meaning no VAT is payable on outputs, but VAT can be reclaimed on inputs - not being registered would be throwing away thousands every year.

JasonLVC

GavB79 wrote: »

You may not agree with it, but it is the case, at least in the Kent LA.
Also, it is highly likely a state school will be VAT registered under the umbrella of the local authority because education is an exempt supply meaning no VAT is payable on outputs, but VAT can be reclaimed on inputs - not being registered would be throwing away thousands every year.

If the ownership passes to the credit card company, does that mean the school never owns the laptop and when it is sold a few years later, the school has to seek permission from the credit card company and then remit the proceeds of the sale to the CC company? Many LA's and public sector bodies now operate a credit card for business purchases under a certain value - are we saying that any spend on a CC by the LA isn't recoverable and so Kent LA has to use debit cards to buy things instead?

VAT doesn't concern itself with the means of payment (or consideration in tech speak), whether you pay by cheque or cash, the ownership (or title to the goods) still belongs to whoever paid for the goods. If the owner then 'sells' those goods to someone else (in this case, teacher sells to the school via expenses), then ownership transfers to the school.

Have a look at this link - Page 49, para 7.4 : http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_InternalGuidance&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_PROD1_023496

Provided the business is satisfied that the item being claimed for is for the business and used in the business then it will be okay to reclaim, but you have to use some discretion, an employee reclaiming for a LCD TV or a cardigan cannot be solely for a business purpose so the VAT cannot be reclaimed, whereas finger paints and blackboard chalk clearly is for a business purpose.

It is already established practice for employees reclaiming travel expenses, they must submit an expense claim form and VAT receipts showing the petrol/diesel purchased. The employer can then reclaim a proportion of the input tax charged on the fuel that the employee purchased.

I assume your LA do reclaim input tax on employee travel expenses where the employee provides a VAT receipt and the LA reclaims under advisory fuel rate rules (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cars/advisory_fuel_current.htm).

For further evidence, I've found an old (2002) document from Leicester City Council, Page 4/5 (staff expenses) talks about employee expenses for hotel stays, stationery, etc and that it is recoverable but that they weren't doing it and thus losing out on thousands of pounds extra VAT recovery. http://www.leicester.gov.uk/education/vat_tax/vattax/VATTAX31.DOC

I'll ask about the office later to see if there is some obscure rules that I'm not aware of, you never know, at which point I'll have learnt something new myself!

GavB79

JasonLVC wrote: »

are we saying that any spend on a CC by the LA isn't recoverable and so Kent LA has to use debit cards to buy things instead?

Company credit cards are fine, it is use of employee's personal credit cards that is not permitted in my LA.