Reform’s legal challenge to Labour tax raid on private schools can’t work because of Brexit, says expert

Labour’s plans to finish tax emptions for fee-paying unbiased schools can’t be challenged within the courts because of Brexit, a number one expert has claimed.

Dan Niedle, founder of assume tank Tax Policy Associates, has warned that Reform UK chief Richard Tice’s plans to challenge Labour within the courts will fail because of his earlier profitable marketing campaign to go away the European Union.

Labour needs to finish the charity standing of private schools which means that folks may have to pay 20 p.c VAT on high of the already excessive annual charges which, in accordance to monetary advisers St James Place, averaged £20,480 for day pupils and £34,790 for boarders in 2022.

There are believed to be round 615,000 youngsters within the UK’s 1,300 unbiased schools, some 7 per cent of all British school-age youngsters and 18 per cent of pupils over the age of 16.

Some estimates recommend that if schools are pressured to shut down or mother and father can now not afford charges then it should price the state sector £4.2bn a 12 months to educate them dwarfing the £1.6bn Rachel Reeves hopes to get from the tax raid.

Mr Tice informed The Daily Telegraph that his social gathering will pursue legal avenues to cease what he believes is a discriminatory coverage.

He stated that he would use “every legal avenue” to block Labour’s plans.

Mr Tice went on: “All charities, of any form, get business rates relief. To target only independent schools on business rates relief and VAT on fees is deeply discriminatory.”

The Reform UK chief additionally questioned why Labour would solely apply VAT to private college charges and never college tuition charges, suggesting that it was discriminatory.

He stated: “I will be actively spearheading a legal campaign in conjunction with lawyers and King’s Counsels to stop the VAT on school fees and business rates relief based on this discrimination relative to universities.”

But Mr Tice’s hopes appear to have been thwarted already because of the truth that Britain has left the EU – one thing he campaigned for.

In a thread on Twitter/X, tax coverage expert Dan Niedle stated: “Some free legal recommendation for Richard Tice. Here is an entire record of the methods a courtroom can overturn tax laws: 1. EU regulation challenges. That’s it.

“There’s no different manner to overturn main tax laws. And once I final checked, EU regulation challenges weren’t a factor anymore.”

He went on: “A successful ECHR/Human Rights Act challenge can result in the court politely asking parliament to think again (a ‘declaration of incompatibility’). But the law remains in force.”

He identified that Mr Tice had additionally wished the UK to go away the ECHR.

Mr Niedle added: “If Labour resolve to impose a £100bn tax on everybody referred to as Richard Tice, I’m fairly sure it will be in opposition to the ECHR. But he’d nonetheless have zero probability of acquiring an injunction to cease it.

“Back in the actual world, right here’s an entire record of all of the UK tax guidelines which were discovered to be opposite to the ECHR/HRA: Nothing!”

But Mr Tice dismissed the assault: “He [Niedle] is a Labour man so of course he would say that! He is wrong: the HRA overrides everything.”