The pandemic has accelerated this process, and the market trend is moving towards a clear increase in this type of training, where characteristics such as flexibility, both in terms of time and geography, agility in accessing different contents, as well as the monitoring that tutors provide for their students, make it an attractive option that is gradually replacing traditional face-to-face teaching.

In the new e-learning sector, not only those agents that have been regularly dedicated to training, such as study centres, business schools, academies, etc., have a place, but there are also many professionals who are combining the provision of their services with the teaching of different training courses related to them. If you are one of these professionals, it is very likely that one of the main doubts you may have is the tax treatment of VAT on these training courses.

Article 20 of the Spanish Law on VAT regulates tax exemptions and section 1.9 of this article establishes the exemption corresponding to educational services, where it states that “...school, university and postgraduate education, language teaching and professional training and retraining, carried out by public law institutions or private institutions authorised to perform these activities...” will be exempt. In general, training will be exempt provided that the subject taught is included in an official curriculum of the education system, and always in accordance with the provisions of the Spanish Ministry of Education or the legislation of the corresponding Autonomous Community.

In addition to meeting the above requirement, in order to be considered exempt, the objective requirement must be met, in which there must be a transfer of knowledge and skills between a teacher and students. In the case of online training, in addition to verifying that the above two requirements are met, it is necessary to determine whether the service is provided electronically. In this case, it would not be exempt and would be taxed at the general rate. In this respect, it should be clarified that e-learning does not necessarily mean that it is taught through an electronic network. The concept of electronic service refers to the provision and downloading of files, programmes, recorded courses, automated courses, training content via the internet, virtual classrooms, access to data and programmes on a training platform.

In this respect, it should be clarified that e-learning does not necessarily mean that it is taught through an electronic network. The concept of electronic service refers to the provision and downloading of files, programmes, recorded courses, automated courses, training content via the internet, virtual classrooms, access to data and programmes on a training platform.

If the Internet is a simple means of communication between teacher and student, it is not considered to be a service provided electronically. To clarify what has been explained so far, let us look at an example in which a teacher provides training on corporation tax, related to an official subject contained in an official curriculum approved by the Spanish Ministry of Education, and does so online, using some supplementary material, but does not provide access to recorded classes or additional content via file downloads.

In this case, the training would be considered exempt. However, if these classes were integrated into a platform or virtual classroom, which provides flexible access to recorded classes, or even the possibility of downloading files related to the training provided, the exemption would not apply.

In conclusion, and to summarise, for training to be considered exempt from VAT, it must meet the following requirements:

• Contained in an official curriculum.
• It must involve the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student.
• The service must not be provided electronically.

If all these three requirements are not met, the training would not be exempt and would have to be taxed as a service at the general VAT rate of 21%.

If you are going to undertake training, we recommend having a professional in the field confirm that the circumstances to apply the exemption are met.

Source: Lefebvre. ElDerecho.