Designing a children's tuition allowance: what to check

This article is for HR staff who are building or revising a tuition allowance for assigned employees' children abroad. After reading, you will know which questions to settle before you write the policy. It does not hand you an answer. It uses facts confirmed in official sources to point out items that are easy to miss.

First, decide what "tuition" covers

The word that causes the most trouble when a policy is drafted is "tuition." Hong Kong's Education Bureau publishes international school profiles (as of 29 October 2026) that list annual tuition and separate "other charges." One school, for example, lists a capital levy and optional debentures among its other charges. Whether they are refundable, and on what terms, varies by school.

Dubai's KHDA School Fees Fact Sheet (the information page was last updated on 3 April 2024) is built differently. One page lists mandatory tuition, other verified fees such as transport, extracurricular activities, trips and books, and any discounts and scholarships the school offers. If your policy says only "tuition," you have no basis for deciding when an employee claims transport or book costs. If you open the categories too widely, spending may exceed what you expected. So separate tuition, admission-related charges, levies or debentures, and transport, books and activities, and write down for each whether you support it and up to what limit.

Local rules shape the fees, even within one company

A single country-by-country table is hard to build because local rules change the fees themselves. According to the NSW Department of Education's Temporary Residents Program (as of 29 October 2026), most children of temporary visa holders pay an application fee and tuition. Some exemptions can be applied for, and a pro-rata refund may apply if the visa category changes. Australia's Department of Home Affairs says public school fees for children accompanying a 482 (Skills in Demand) visa holder are set by each state's education department, not by the visa, so the rules of the destination state need separate checking.

New Zealand is different again. Its Ministry of Education (as of 29 October 2026) has every student enrol as domestic or international, and international students pay tuition and other fees. Immigration New Zealand says children of parents with an appropriate work visa can get a Dependent Child Student Visa and attend primary or secondary school without tuition fees, as domestic students. Some work visas do not qualify, and there are conditions such as proof of living funds.

The lesson for design is simple. What schooling costs locally can vary a great deal by country, state and visa category. Whether a flat allowance or reimbursement of actual costs suits you depends on your list of assignment locations. Which category an employee's family falls into is not for the company to judge. It is safer to point families to the official authority or an immigration professional.

Fees change every year, and levies may need separate approval

A figure you set once will not stay right. According to a KHDA service page (as of 4 November 2026), a private school in Dubai that wants to raise or lower tuition must apply to KHDA. An approved increase applies only to the upcoming academic year, and the school notifies parents afterwards. It helps to decide how often you will revisit your limits, and how you will check that the fees a school quotes match KHDA's school page.

In Hong Kong, "other charges" such as capital levies, debentures and nomination-right fees have their own approval, apart from regular tuition. The Education Bureau's implementation details (as of 4 November 2026) say applications must be made at least six months before the proposed collection start. Approval is normally valid for six school years and is not granted retrospectively. Proceeds may go only to long-term development such as large works projects, not to operating costs such as salaries or routine maintenance. If a school asks for a separate levy or debenture at admission, it is worth checking whether this approval exists. Whether the charge works like a refundable deposit or a cost you do not get back may also change how the company supports it.

Another organisation's design is just one example

One reference point is the US State Department education allowance (DSSR 270), explained in a June 2017 Foreign Service Journal article from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA). According to the article, the allowance is meant to help defray costs at post that would be free at a U.S. public school. Tuition and books qualify; extracurriculars and band instruments do not. Employees may choose any school and are reimbursed up to the applicable rate.

How the rates are set is also worth noticing. Where an adequate school exists at post, the least expensive one becomes the base school and sets the "at post" rate. Where none exists, an "away from post" rate applies that reflects room and board and airfares. There is also an anti-duplication rule: educational travel cannot be claimed at the same time for the same child. In short, the design settles separately what is included, how free the school choice is, the base rate and how to prevent double claims.

However, the article dates from 2017, so rates and amounts may have changed. The current text is on the Office of Allowances site (allowances.state.gov). Treat it not as a standard to copy but as a reference for what questions your own document should answer.

Check tax and transfers separately at the design stage

Once you pick a method of support, tax and money transfers follow. The National Tax Service page on non-taxable earned income (as of 4 November 2026) lists "the worker's own tuition" under tuition, with conditions such as relevance to the employer's business and payment standards in the employer's rules. The item in that table is the worker's own tuition. So the tax treatment of company support for a child's tuition must be checked separately with the NTS or a tax professional. This article is not an individual tax ruling.

Transfers are similar. According to Korea Customs Service guidance (as of 4 November 2026), payment means above US$10,000 leaving Korea involve a declaration procedure, and students abroad and similar travellers obtain confirmation from a foreign exchange bank. Many families pay tuition by bank transfer rather than carrying cash, so it helps to tell employees to ask their bank first.

Sam's one-line tip

In the policy document, write down before any amount what is covered, which proof is needed, and how many school years pass before you review it.

Checklist

• Have you separated tuition, admission-related charges, levies or debentures, and transport, books and activities, and decided which you support?
• Have you checked local school fee rules (differences by country, state and visa category) in official sources for each assignment location?
• Have you compared a flat allowance with reimbursement of actual costs against your mix of locations?
• Have you set how often limits are reviewed in light of fee increases or changed levies?
• Have you decided how to treat refundable and non-refundable charges?
• Is there a rule to prevent double claims (for example boarding and educational travel)?
• Have you checked the tax treatment of child tuition support with the NTS or a tax professional?
• Have you told employees to confirm visa and transfer questions directly with official bodies and their bank?

Confirm with the owner

• Ask your tax owner how child tuition support is treated for tax and what the basis for that answer is.
• Ask each target school whether it can give you the full fee schedule and refund terms in writing.
• Ask the school, if it requires a separate levy or debenture, whether the local authority has approved it.
• Ask your bank about the tuition transfer procedure and what documents are needed.
• Decide where employees can be sent, such as official authorities or an immigration professional, to confirm visa-based school fee conditions for their own family.

Your next step

Pick one or two planned destinations, put the education authority's official fee guidance next to the school's full fee schedule, and mark which items your policy document currently covers.

Always confirm your own situation with the official authority or an immigration professional.