Claiming
What records do you need to make an education VAT claim?
Short answer
You need to show what you supplied, to whom, what VAT you accounted for and what input tax you recovered, for every VAT period in the claim. The core records are your VAT returns, fee invoices or statements, course and validation documents, and your input tax workings. Pricing evidence helps answer HMRC on unjust enrichment.
About your organisation
- Company or charity details and constitution, including any restriction on distributing profits
- VAT registration certificate and date of registration
- Office for Students registration category, if any
- Validation, franchise or partnership agreements with universities or colleges
- Awarding body approvals, for example Pearson centre approval
- Any past HMRC rulings or correspondence about your VAT treatment
Your courses
- A list of courses for each year of the claim, with level, awarding or validating body and start and end dates
- Which courses were designated for student finance
- Prospectuses or course pages from those years
- Learner numbers by course and how each group paid: self-funded, student loan, employer or public funding
Fees and output tax
- VAT returns for every period in the claim, with box figures
- Fee schedules for each year
- Sales ledger or finance system reports that split fee income by course
- Invoices or fee statements showing how VAT was shown to learners
- Refunds, discounts, bursaries and write-offs
Input tax
- Purchase ledger for every period in the claim
- Any partial exemption workings or special method agreed with HMRC
- Records of property purchases, builds or refurbishments above the Capital Goods Scheme thresholds
- How shared costs such as rent, IT and staff were allocated
Pricing evidence for unjust enrichment
- Fee history, especially around when you started charging VAT
- Fees charged by universities and FE colleges for similar courses
- Management accounts showing margins by course
- Board papers or notes showing how fees were set
You do not need everything before your 100% free consultation. The review will tell you which records matter most for your claim. See how a review works.