THE Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has called for a repeal of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on private tuition, which was introduced this year.
The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) — one of the parties in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) which together with the Alliance For Change (AFC) forms the government – said on Monday that it opposes VAT on private school fees. The party’s view was articulated by executive member, Dr David Hinds, during a press conference held at its Queenstown location.

According to Dr Hinds, the party is “opposed to taxation on education,” due to the fact that private education in the country has evolved. He reasoned that: “In the old days, it was the elite who sent their children to private schools. Now, ordinary poor people are sending their children to private schools, because there is the perception that public education is not delivering to our children.”
The WPA member said that as a result of this, poor people have been making tremendous sacrifices to send their children to private schools. And with the party having a traditional role of representing the rights of the working-class, Dr Hinds said that they do not feel adding taxes on education, even if it is private, is the way to go.

“Our interest in this matter is the defence of the poor. That insofar as poor people are accessing private education, we feel that a tax on them is an added burden,” he told reporters on Monday. However, he was keen to note that the position of the party is not in defence of the rich and powerful.
“We want to make it clear that there are operators of private schools in this country who are making a lot of money and they need to pay their taxes. We’re not defending the rich and powerful. We feel that it is their failure to pay their fair share that is causing a burden to be put on poor people,” Dr Hinds offered.

Government has held several consultations and discussions on the way forward since the tax was introduced this year. Public outcry sparked immediate action, and a commitment by Cabinet that they would examine the issue. However, it was later announced that due to the early passage of the 2017 budget which facilitated introduction of this tax, it was unlikely that it could be reversed this year. As such, a commitment was made for it to be re-examined during consideration of the 2018 budget.

In April of this year, the AFC – the second largest party in the APNU+AFC coalition – had said that it will make strident representation within the government to ensure a repeal of the tax in 2018.
The party also said that it is of the view that the status of private educational institutions requires review and updating where appropriate. As such, it called on the government to set up a task force to engage this matter in advance of the presentation of Budget 2018.