Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on school uniforms.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services including schools and hospitals.

Children’s clothing designed for young children, including branded school uniform, already benefits from VAT relief. To ensure that this relief is carefully targeted this relief is limited to clothing designed and labelled for children under the age of 14.

Increasing the scope of this VAT relief to all school uniform would come at a cost to the Exchequer, with no guarantee that any reliefs would be passed on to consumers. We therefore have no plans to make changes here.