VAT to remain on Private School fees for now; Only 8 of 57 private schools tax compliant -Pres. Granger

Answering questions posed by News Source this afternoon following the opening of the Department of the Environment, President Granger said "the cabinet examined the problem yesterday, the issue as you know, several petitions have been presented and the Minister of Finance will make a statement, but there is more in the mortar than the pestle. There are very strong arguments to maintain the tax, and as I said Cabinet examined it, and I urge the Minister of Finance to make a public statement so the issues are better understood".

VAT to remain on Private School fees for now; Only 8 of 57 private schools tax compliant  -Pres. Granger

President David Granger this evening announced that the 14% Value Added Tax will remain on private school fees.

The President’s about turn on the issue comes in wake of Tuesday’s Ministerial Conference and a presentation from Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan.

 On Monday, multiple senior government sources indicated that the President was getting ready to announce the removal of the tax from private school fees, but the announcement was put on hold and the decision taken to keep the tax in place after the scenario with the private school system and tax compliance was presented to the President by the Finance Minister.

Answering questions posed by News Source this afternoon following the opening of the Department of the Environment, President Granger said “the cabinet examined the problem yesterday, the issue as you know, several petitions have been presented and the Minister of Finance will make a statement, but there is more in the mortar than the pestle. There are very strong arguments to maintain the tax, and as I said Cabinet examined it, and I urge the Minister of Finance to make a public statement so the issues are better understood”.

He added that “there are about 57 private schools and eight of them seem to be tax compliant, which means that about 49 are not compliant so not everything you hear about private schools. Private schools are not all the same and so the Minister of Finance is in a better position”.

President Granger said there is sympathy for the families and students who will be faced with the tax on school fees, “but there are other things that will be explained by the Finance Minister”.

When pressed by News Source to say definitively whether the tax will remain on the private school fees, Mr. Granger said “as it is now the tax stays and as I said earlier, there are grounds to ensure better compliance by all private operators with the GRA’s regulations. Right now we have a high level of non-compliance by some private entities.”

Many parents and groups against the tax being added to private schools fees have said that the government should go after the private schools and not transfer the burden to parents and students.

When asked what may have changed his mind between Monday and today on the issue, President Granger said “my mind is not changed but we had a meeting yesterday and the Finance Minister explained certain aspects of taxation, which were not as clear to the public before and so the cabinet is now in a better position and so I have asked the Minister of Finance to inform the public about the issues that were raised at cabinet.”

Last week in a letter to the press, the Finance Minister defended the decision to add the 14% tax to the private school fees by pointing out that the schools are in a position to absorb the tax and not pass it on to parents.

Many of the private schools that are not tax compliant have been sheltering under religious organisations and non-governmental groups to dodge taxes, according to Finance Ministry sources.

A number of parents of children who attend private schools have been expressing concern over the tax being added to the already high school fees. Yesterday during a protest by some of those parents, many of them said the government should go after the private schools and shut down the non compliant ones, rather than to pass the burden on to parents.

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