The leaders of five of the region's colleges have pleaded with the government to scrap a rule preventing them from claiming back millions in tax.
Ahead of next month's Spring Budget, bosses from New Anglia Colleges have penned an open letter to MPs warning of the impact of a VAT "inequality" hitting further education.
They say in the past year, the five colleges have paid a combined £5m in value-added tax which schools and academies would have been able to claim back.
However, existing VAT rules mean certain colleges do not qualify for the same exemption.
Jerry White, principal of City College Norwich, said: "At City College Norwich, Easton College and Paston College we are working with our employer partners to tackle key skill gaps in our region, including in digital skills, agricultural technology and green skills for energy transition.
"We urge the treasury to level the playing field for colleges by allowing us to be reimbursed for VAT as that would unlock millions of pounds of additional investment to support our communities and the economy."
New Anglia Colleges is a partnership between City College Norwich, the College of West Anglia, Suffolk New College, East Coast College and Eastern Education Group.
And the leaders of all five colleges have co-signed the open letter calling for the rule to be scrapped.
They say the rule change would cost around £210m nationally - but that this could be reinvested in upskilling young people pursuing education at college.
The letter reads: "Between us, we educate more than 50pc of all the young people aged 16-19 in Norfolk and Suffolk, train more than 6,000 apprentices and provide opportunities for over 10,000 adults to continue to upskill and reskill throughout their lives.
"We are a key anchor institution in our communities, but we urgently need your support.".
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