Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to exempt further education colleges from paying VAT.

Education provided by further education (FE) colleges is either outside the scope of VAT or classified as ‘exempt’ under the VAT Act 1994. This means that FE colleges do not apply VAT on the education they provide to their pupils.

Under European law, it is not possible to recover tax incurred on activities outside the scope of VAT or in the course of making ‘exempt’ supplies. Our future relationship with the EU, including on VAT, is subject to negotiation and any future decisions on VAT will continue to be taken in line with the normal Budget process.