Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the new VAT legislation for private schools led to HMRC amending or redefining the scope of input tax recovery for business who made exempt supplies prior to registration.

VAT incurred prior to registration is not input tax. However, HMRC has discretion under the provisions of Regulation 111 of the VAT Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/2518) to allow such VAT to be treated as input tax, subject to the normal rules. There was therefore no need to amend or redefine the scope of input tax recovery following the introduction of VAT on private school fees.