Opposition Leader pledges to repeal Andrews government’s new schools tax

John Pesutto has pledged to abolish a controversial new schools tax, saying Victorians “should not be punished for the financial incompetence of the Andrews government”.

The state opposition has vowed to repeal a controversial new schools tax set to be imposed on more than 100 of Victoria’s top fee-paying schools.

The government will seek to remove payroll tax exemption from 110 schools with annual fees of more than $7500, raising $421m over the next three years as part of this year’s budget.

The move has prompted concerns schools will be forced to increase fees, cut programs or sack staff.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto on Tuesday said he would immediately repeal the tax if elected to government.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto says he will immediately repeal the tax if elected to government. Picture: David Crosling

“We don’t believe Victorians who work hard and send their kids to independent schools should be punished for the financial incompetence of the Andrews government,” he said.

“The reason we have singled out at this stage the schools tax as a tax we committed to repealing in government after 2026 is that for a long time and historically, we’ve always left independent schools untouched by payroll tax, because we don’t think it’s fair and generations before us have never considered it fair.”

Mr Pesutto said the opposition would formally oppose a suite of new revenue raising measures, including the new Covid debt levies.

But he said it would be fiscally irresponsible to repeal them.