High court dismisses challenges against adding VAT to UK private school fees

Winchester College, England. Judges said adding 20% to private school fees would not have been possible under EU law. Photograph: Britpix/Alamy

The high court has dismissed a wave of legal challenges against adding VAT to private school fees in the UK, saying the government’s decision was a rare example of Brexit freedoms.

The judges said that adding 20% to private school fees would not have been possible under EU law, stating: “This is therefore one respect in which the UK’s exit from the EU has increased the scope of parliament’s freedom to determine policy.”