Can our childs school charge vat on school uniform ?

deankent

My daughters new secondary school have informed us that there are compulsary items we must buy for our daughter, blazer, tie and pe kit mainly, This comes to £79. We only have the option of buying it from one supplier also which i find terrible.

My questions are as follows:

1. Can they charge VAT on school uniform which has the school logo ?

2. Can they force us to buy from one supplier?

i would be so greatful for any help.

Thank you
dean

fluffnutter

Re. VAT, uniforms are generally exempt unless they're not exclusively worn by the under 14s. So if this is a secondary school, VAT might well be appropriate. However, I'm finding the rules a little difficult to comprehend so you're best to check them out yourself.

Re. your second question... is this is state school? If so, then I doubt it. But I'm not an expert. There's an interesting BBC article about it here although it's fairly old now.

Hintza

deankent wrote: »

2. Can they force us to buy from one supplier?

No but can you find another supplier? School uniform has always been relatively expensive (but buy for growth and get two years out of it) but you might find the blazer cheaper and source a badge?

shellsuit

I can only get my kid's (both teens in high scool) blazers, skirt, jumpers/tank tops, tie and PE kits from one supplier.

It's pants because there's no way we can shop around to get it any cheaper.

fluffnutter

The BBC article that I've linked to above has this point to make:

School governors - who have a statutory duty not to disadvantage children - can face action under competition law if they fail to ensure choice is available.

fluffnutter

dpraved wrote: »

My private school only had 1 supplier which cost a fortune but id imagine a state school would allow some sort of vouchers for poor families

It's not about being poor necessarily though. It's about being forced to use a single supplier. Everyone should be able to shop around if they want to, whether they're skint or not.