Parents in UAE feel the heat

Several parents are stocking up on school uniforms and books, ahead of the 5 per cent VAT that will be implemented on these school necessities starting January 1, 2018.

Parents in the UAE are, however, relieved there will be no tax on school tuition fees (though fees on higher education institutions will be taxed), but school uniforms and books are not exempted.

An Indian parent of two children, Pranesh Nair, said he will be purchasing four to five sets of uniforms for each of his child before the tax takes effect.

"I will go buy uniforms now to manage our budget. Usually, we buy four to five sets for our first child and now our second child will be starting school next year, so we'll buy the uniforms before the year ends," Nair said, adding that this tax will affect the budgets of expatriates who survive in the country only on their monthly salary. "If you're getting taxed on school uniforms and other things, it's not good for us because two things that should never be taxed are education and hospitals. Even though there is no tax on tuition fees, the fees are increasing each year. 80 per cent of the people are expats here and they're living on their salary. The day-to-day cost of living is increasing, not only in the UAE, but also in other countries," said Nair, a sales manager.

A parent of three children, Mariam Ayaz said she will be reusing the uniforms from previous years and purchase additional ones before the year ends, besides buying used books from other students in order to save money.

"If the school fees are increasing each year, how can we parents afford to pay extra for books and uniforms? Five per cent may not seem much in a single payment, but if we do our yearly budgets, that extra money could've been saved to buy other important things for our children," said Ayaz, a full-time mum with two daughters and a son.

"I'll buy uniforms one size larger for my kids, so we won't have to purchase again after the tax.

"For books, I will try to find used books or younger children can use the books my eldest daughter used before," Ayaz added.