Education

Centurion has strong links with the education sector in the UK as we began as a subsidiary of the University of Wales College, Newport in 1998 to deliver high quality VAT advice to the education sector as an alternative to the Big Four teams.

Our Engagement with the Education Sector

As Centurion has grown so has our sphere of engagement with education providers, so that it now encompasses not just universities but also colleges of further education and commercial providers.

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Karen Phillips & David Francis Coleg y Cymoedd
Karen Phillips & David Francis explain how Centurion VAT have helped Coleg y Cymoedd
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Rob Brelsford-Smith Director of Finance
Rob Brelsford-Smith explains how Centurion VAT have helped Swansea University

Sector VAT issues

There is a growing range of diversity of income generating activities particularly in the further education sector. Attracting international students is a theme across many education providers as is delivering a positive student experience which all bring complex VAT issues. Collaboration with parties to raise educational outcomes, academies, further integration of providers are all issues on the horizon for the sector.

How Centurion can help

Our engagement with the education sector is wide ranging from advising on land and property transactions and development plans through to compliance reviews, the devising of partial exemption methodologies and the delivery of sector specific VAT Training events.

For many years Centurion has supported education clients through our helpline and VAT Management Programmes. On special projects whether mergers or major campus redevelopments we are on hand to ensure VAT issues are recognised early in the discussion and planned for accordingly.

The strength and quality of our VAT support to this sector demonstrates why Centurion won the Taxation Best VAT Team in the UK in 2013 beating both Deloitte and KPMG and again being in the top 3 VAT teams in the UK in 2015.

Related Services

Open the tabs below to see how each service is specialised to the education sector.

Training

As well as Education specific VAT training events within our open course programme we have developed courses to address key areas of concern including post-merger VAT awareness training for staff in new or different roles within the structure. Our Annual Universities and FE Colleges VAT Forums have become the “must attend” event for our clients and contacts in this sector.

Consultancy

Support on property projects remains an area of our focus. Major campus refurbishments and new development projects can attract large VAT costs and require careful consideration from a VAT perspective. Acquisition of property assets to assist in redevelopment plans need to be picked up early with Estates Teams to ensure VAT inadvertently doesn’t end up as a cost. Our advice is also sought on:

  • implementation of new accounting systems implementation
  • maximising VAT recovery through partial exemption methods,
  • the impact of the Capital Goods Scheme
  • VAT issues associated with diversification of income and activities, including
    • Overseas delivery of education
    • Distance learning
    • Acquisition and due diligence on new corporate entities
Compliance support

Many of our education sector clients receive ongoing support on managing their VAT compliance needs though our Annual VAT Helpline offering. Linked with our VAT Management service we can visit prior to the submission of the quarterly return and run audit checks on the data produced prior to its submission. This has been particularly valuable in organisations faced with staffing pressures, or periods of management change in delivering consistency on VAT compliance.

VAT Management Programme

With the VAT complexities within the sector and the challenges to access expert VAT support without exposure to burgeoning costs our VAT Management Service offers the financial director/manager the reassurance that VAT expert help is on hand to sense-check any VAT concerns as they arise. Set annual budgets are agreed to deliver a VAT helpline through email and phone contact and this is often combined with periodic meetings on site to look ahead at areas of future VAT impact and is particularly valuable when managing development projects, systems or staff changes.

Meet the Team

Within Centurion we have four VAT specialists directly supporting our Education clients

Louise Gray
Louise Gray

Director

Email Louise
Andrea Brindley
Andrea Brindley

Director

Email Andrea
Liz Maher
Liz Maher

Director

Email Liz
Julie Rawlinson-Smith
Julie Rawlinson-Smith

Associate Director

Email Julie

Within Centurion our core Education team is led by Louise Gray supported by Liz Maher. In addition Julie Rawlinson-Smith and Andrea Brindley have direct experience of supporting the UK commercial training sector as well as education and training provision within a wide range of charitable bodies.

Louise covers all aspects of VAT support required by our education clients and with her career in VAT starting in 1987, has a wealth of practical VAT experience to support the education sector. Centurion began in 1998 as a subsidiary of the University of Wales College Newport delivering its internal VAT management resource which brings a unique perspective to our understanding of VAT in education.

GET IN TOUCH

Our Education Clients

Case study

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Saving a 6 Figure VAT cost

Often as a property purchase reaches the point of contract signing the question of VAT treatment will arise and Centurion will get the call. This recent example was no different. As it became clear that the vendor had opted to tax the planned site for acquisition the university was faced with the risk of incurring a VAT cost which had not been budgeted for and was unlikely to be recovered due to the planned use. With a detailed review of the planned site for acquisition and research into the current and future use and intentions for the site Centurion was able to identify that the acquisition could in fact meet the criteria to be regarded as a transfer of a going concern for VAT purposes rather than a building acquisition. With prompt action therefore a 6 figure VAT cost was removed from the transaction enabling completion to progress smoothly.

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Partial Exemption Methods – why they need close attention?

Methodologies that allocate input tax to the taxable business activities undertaken by universities and colleges are an important part of the projects Centurion undertakes. FE Colleges have further complexities due to the high levels of non business activities undertaken in the education of non fee paying students under the age of 19.

With the increasing diversification of income generation across the education sector our skill in reviewing sector based methodologies can improve VAT recovery percentages - where even a small percentage increase has brought additional recovery in the tens of thousands for individual clients.

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