PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Home Education: Taxation (4 January 2019)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of refunding the tax contribution made to the education budget by parents who educate their children at home.

Asked by:
Sir John Hayes (Conservative)

The obligation to pay taxes is a general one. In general, tax receipts go into the ‘Consolidated Fund’ and taxes are not earmarked to any particular purpose.

I do appreciate that not all taxpayers make direct use of every service provided by the government, and that parents who choose to educate their children at home are one example of this. However, a similar argument for a tax refund could be made by anyone who does not use a publicly provided service, or some aspect of that service, including those who are not parents. Primary and secondary education is primarily funded through general taxation, irrespective of usage, and not through charging users.

Answered by:
Elizabeth Truss (Conservative)
11 January 2019