Uniform and Clothing

Many academies sell school uniform and other clothing to pupils.

Despite it often being a requirement for the pupils to wear the uniform, HMRC do not consider that it is closely-related to education (as they argue that education can be carried out irrespective of the uniform worn by pupils).

This means that the sale of uniform is not considered to be a non-business matter and sales of clothing, even where zero-rating applies, will count towards the VAT registration threshold. The registration thresholds are listed in our summary of VAT rates.

The sale of uniform and clothing is presumably considered by HMRC to be a business supply as the academy would have a duty to ensure uniform sales are made on a commercial basis, given that the wearing of uniform is not a key part of the primary purpose activity of the school.

VAT Treatment