private school fees
Discussion
drainbrain said:
Sibling Discounts
Sibling discounts are available providing all children are attending at the same time. The sibling discount rates changed in September 2013 but these changes do not affect existing parents.
Child Percentage
1st Child Nil
2nd Child 5%
3rd Child 20%
4th Child 50%
That's not trivial. Not for Twig. I reckon they'd paying HIM for numbers 7 & 8!!
My understanding is ours is a flat 2.5% from 2 onwards. We've been diddled!Sibling discounts are available providing all children are attending at the same time. The sibling discount rates changed in September 2013 but these changes do not affect existing parents.
Child Percentage
1st Child Nil
2nd Child 5%
3rd Child 20%
4th Child 50%
That's not trivial. Not for Twig. I reckon they'd paying HIM for numbers 7 & 8!!
DonkeyApple said:
Plenty of schools are open to negotiations on second sproggs. They are businesses and despite all their protestations and faux horror at facing a negotiation over filthy lucre most will deal.
I did enquire about paying a year upfront and getting a big discount but they didn't offer a huge chunk off - need to drop the polite English façade and haggle!Derek Chevalier said:
DonkeyApple said:
Plenty of schools are open to negotiations on second sproggs. They are businesses and despite all their protestations and faux horror at facing a negotiation over filthy lucre most will deal.
I did enquire about paying a year upfront and getting a big discount but they didn't offer a huge chunk off - need to drop the polite English façade and haggle!Our local school offers 25% off the oldest kid's fees when you have 3 enrolled. No discounts for 2 and with the discount following the oldest child, it doesn't last as long as it could.
We have some excellent state schools in the area, but the grammar schools are single sex whereas we prefer co-ed. We assumed that our eldest (just finished year 1) would not be offered a place at the church-linked local 'outstanding' primary school, but the letter surprised us. It was only after a visit there that we realised what we'd be giving up vs the private school (where she was attending pre-prep).
For us, it's only possible due to cashing out of the London housing market and moving to the North West 3 years ago. With our second child now at nursery (part of the same school), it is financially tough and some sacrifices are required. I had a look through the school accounts and found that there is just over 10% of fee income covered by scholarships, bursaries and discounts. This thread has certainly opened my eyes to this possibility.
Somebody made the point earlier, but wanted to stress the potential importance of the parent network. With so many business owners and senior professionals, there are opportunities for summer placements, work experience or part time jobs in so many areas which can make a big difference to university / first graduate job applications.
We have some excellent state schools in the area, but the grammar schools are single sex whereas we prefer co-ed. We assumed that our eldest (just finished year 1) would not be offered a place at the church-linked local 'outstanding' primary school, but the letter surprised us. It was only after a visit there that we realised what we'd be giving up vs the private school (where she was attending pre-prep).
For us, it's only possible due to cashing out of the London housing market and moving to the North West 3 years ago. With our second child now at nursery (part of the same school), it is financially tough and some sacrifices are required. I had a look through the school accounts and found that there is just over 10% of fee income covered by scholarships, bursaries and discounts. This thread has certainly opened my eyes to this possibility.
Somebody made the point earlier, but wanted to stress the potential importance of the parent network. With so many business owners and senior professionals, there are opportunities for summer placements, work experience or part time jobs in so many areas which can make a big difference to university / first graduate job applications.
I'd planned to stay in London and send mine to board but I discovered that I really enjoy having them around. Plus, while I immensely enjoyed boarding very many schools in recent years have become dumping grounds for unwanted children from ill thought out marriages so this year I've also moved out of London to the countryside so they can attend one of the what I would consider to be run of the mill private schools where the parents are from normal backgrounds and a nice wide spread of backgrounds. It's also over £20k/year cheaper than boarding or central London.
OP, my honest opinion - given your earnings I would as others have suggested ask for some sort of bursary or discount. If you can show your incomes and expenses they probably help you out. Most of the schools will have a good percentage of parents doing this.. Also many schools let you pay monthly through some sort of school fees arrangement, with low interest. . Remember those fees never go down and there will always be those extras, like trips away, which sometimes your kids can feel left out if they cannot attend..
Good luck G
Good luck G
PostHeads123 said:
I thought a lot of people paid for it via ltd companies as the private schools have 'Charitable' status so they could pay it out of gross earnings from the company before tax. So if you have your own ltd / may be a contractor your sorted.
Definitely you can't pay school fees from a UK company. How would you meet the requirement to show that the expense incurred was wholly and exclusively a business need?If you happen to have a Russian or foreign company, then it probably doesn't matter. Although I would expect the school to consider money laundering regulations.
EddieSteadyGo said:
Definitely you can't pay school fees from a UK company. How would you meet the requirement to show that the expense incurred was wholly and exclusively a business need?
It could be done, but it would be a BIK.Things may have changed with dividend rules changing but I've seen stuff about setting up a company that pays the kids (as they don't usually pay tax) dividends.
Again, don't know if still works but another way touted is for either a parent (if old enough) or a grandparent (if young enough) to use a pension lump sum repayment as the contribution is boosted by a tax adder and the repayment is tax free.
Sheepshanks said:
EddieSteadyGo said:
Definitely you can't pay school fees from a UK company. How would you meet the requirement to show that the expense incurred was wholly and exclusively a business need?
It could be done, but it would be a BIK.Things may have changed with dividend rules changing but I've seen stuff about setting up a company that pays the kids (as they don't usually pay tax) dividends.
Again, don't know if still works but another way touted is for either a parent (if old enough) or a grandparent (if young enough) to use a pension lump sum repayment as the contribution is boosted by a tax adder and the repayment is tax free.
This document relates to the topic from HMRC which as I read it would definitely not be tax efficient way of doing things.
https://www.gov.uk/expenses-benefits-school-fees-f...
Slightly different thing but we're all (nine of us) annual members of Chester Zoo, which is a registered charity. I asked if the membership fee could be regarded as a charitable donation and they said no - it's got to be a simple gift, they can't give anything back.
So I presume the same applies to private schools. There's no doubt all sorts of shenanigans going on though, which some people probably get away with, and others don't.
So I presume the same applies to private schools. There's no doubt all sorts of shenanigans going on though, which some people probably get away with, and others don't.
Sheepshanks said:
So I presume the same applies to private schools. There's no doubt all sorts of shenanigans going on though, which some people probably get away with, and others don't.
Yes, I have to agree with that. No doubt some people are still setting up undeclared offshore bank accounts, routing money/invoices via offshore companies hidden behind nominee directors, being paid by "loans" rather than dividends etc etc. It isn't for me to draw the line between avoidance and evasion and all is fine, until HRMC catch up with them...
But just to reassure the original query, it wouldn't make financial sense to pay school fees from a limited company.
Sheepshanks said:
Slightly different thing but we're all (nine of us) annual members of Chester Zoo, which is a registered charity. I asked if the membership fee could be regarded as a charitable donation and they said no - it's got to be a simple gift, they can't give anything back.
So I presume the same applies to private schools. There's no doubt all sorts of shenanigans going on though, which some people probably get away with, and others don't.
Some listed here:http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2558653/The-5-sneaky-perfectly-legal-ways-Britains-richest-parents-cut-tax-bill-private-school-fees.htmlSo I presume the same applies to private schools. There's no doubt all sorts of shenanigans going on though, which some people probably get away with, and others don't.
I know a couple of companies that set up EFRBS (Employer-Financed Retirement Benefit Schemes) that essentially were an offshore discretionary trust which was totally legally separate to the company. The company paid in a pile of cash, the EFRB promptly made an interest-free loan to a director or senior employee to pay school fees as an 'investment'...
Unsurprisingly, HMRC not too keen on this but at the time it was a nice little loophole.
Unsurprisingly, HMRC not too keen on this but at the time it was a nice little loophole.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff