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Ruling

Subject: Special education course

Question

Are you providing a GST-free supply of a special education course?

Answer

Yes, you are providing a GST-free supply of a special education course.

Relevant facts and circumstances

You are a sole trader and are registered for GST.

You are currently employed as a part- time teacher in literacy and numeracy.

Through your business, you provide special education courses to students with learning disabilities. The students are referred to you by teachers, parents and specialists. These students are initially diagnosed as having a learning difficulty from the results of successive reading and comprehension tests normally carried out by the school.

The students undergo specific diagnostic and specialist testing by a variety of specialist sources including auditory or cognitive specialists to identify the underlying disability responsible for their learning difficulties.

You use the results of the diagnostic testing as a basis for setting the curriculum of your education course and for designing a program specifically for each student. The design of your programs targets each student's diagnosed learning disability and as such will vary in accordance with the student's needs.

You deliver the programs through direct instruction and utilise appropriate resources in the delivery of your programs. Your programs constitute a series of lessons or classes which are delivered in the form of one-on-one instruction.

The programs will usually be delivered at your residence or at the home of the students. Students that do not live locally are taught by you in an on-line virtual classroom.

You work closely with the students at all times and conduct assessments in order to monitor progress and provide immediate feed-back to the students. Students are also required to constantly monitor their own progress by regularly charting their results of timed reading tasks.

You provide timely reports to parents and the referring organisation and based on the students' progress you adapt strategies as necessary to progress the students. At appropriate intervals you compare results and determine progress.

The education course you provide is not available to people generally, for instance, to accelerate early reading skills of students without disabilities and is only available to students with a disability.

Relevant legislative provisions

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-85

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 195-1

Reasons for decision

The supply of an education course is GST-free under section 38-85 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act). An education course is defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act to include, amongst other things, a special education course.

A course meets the requirements of a special education course as defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act if:

- it is a course of education

- it provides special programs, and

- the special programs are designed specifically for children with disabilities or students with disabilities (or both).

Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2002/1 Goods and services tax: supplies that are GST-free as special education courses (GSTR 2002/1) provide guidance on supplies that are GST-free as special education courses.

Course of education

Paragraphs 15, 16 and 17 of GSTR 2002/1 state:

15. In the context of the definition of a 'special education course' in section 195-1, a course of education should also be given a wide meaning to include a course or program of study involving systematic instruction, training or schooling in areas of:

· scholastic and academic pursuits;

· vocational skills; or

· personal development.

16. The systematic instruction, training or schooling may be delivered to a group of children or students or to an individual child or student and may take the form of:

· a series of lessons or classes; or

· a unit or module that forms part of a larger course.

17. To be a course of education, the systematic instruction, training or schooling also needs to have elements of interactive teaching. Factors that indicate interactive teaching include, but are not limited to:

· delivery of educational instruction through an instructor or teacher;

· ongoing support and guidance, for example, staff being available to answer questions;

· assessment of the child's or student's progress;

· monitoring or supervision; and

· provision of feedback concerning the child or student.

From the information provided by you, we consider that the programs you supply meet the requirements of a course of education as set out in GSTR 2002/1.

Special programs

Paragraphs 19, 20 and 21 of GSTR 2002/1 state:

19. A program is a special program if it is:

· designed specifically to meet the special needs of children or students with disabilities;

· designed specifically to reduce or prevent the impact of disabilities for children or students with disabilities; or

· not made available to people generally.

20. Each and every part of the course of education does not have to be 'special'. However, the program, when looked at in its entirety, needs to be recognised as a special program. For example, the course's content may mirror that of an existing curriculum-based course provided in a school, but be delivered in a way that makes it suitable for children or students with disabilities.

21. In some circumstances, where you modify a program that is not a special program, the modified program may become a special program.

You have stated that all the programs you provide are designed specifically to meet the special needs of students that have been diagnosed with learning disabilities. As such these programs will meet the requirements of special programs as set out in GSTR 2002/1.

Designed specifically for children or students with disabilities

Paragraph 6 of GSTR 2002/1 state:

6. One of the requirements of GST-free special education courses is that they need to be designed specifically for:

· children with disabilities, regardless of whether they are students; or

· students with disabilities, regardless of their age.

GSTR 2002/1 further explains at paragraph 30 that for the purposes of this Ruling a child is someone who has not yet attained the age of eighteen. A student is someone who is enrolled, or will enrol, in a course or program of study involving systematic instruction, training or schooling in the areas stated at paragraph 15 of this Ruling. A student can be someone of any age and may be enrolled on a full or part-time basis.

This ruling is given on the basis that all the students that attend at your education course meet either or both of the above definitions.

Paragraphs 32 to 34 of GSTR 2002/1 state the following in relation to disability:

32. An impairment is a deviation or loss of body function or structure. Body functions are the physiological functions of body systems (including psychological functions). Body structures are the anatomical parts of the body such as organs, limbs and their components.

33. A disability exists where an individual has difficulty in executing activities or has problems in being involved in life situations because some body function or structure is impaired.

34. Children or students with disabilities are those children or students who have a functional or structural impairment that causes them difficulty in executing activities or problems involving life situations. This would include, but is not limited to, conditions that may be diagnosed under the following broad headings:

· learning disabilities/specific learning difficulties (including dyslexia);

· autism spectrum disorder;

· physical disabilities;

· emotional disorders;

· language disorders;

· hearing impairments;

· visual impairments;

· intellectual disabilities

You have stated that your programs are not available to people generally. All your students have one or more of the above disabilities and as all your programs are specifically designed to meet the needs of these students, the programs will satisfy the requirement that they are 'designed specifically for children or students with disabilities'.

In conclusion, the education course provided by you will satisfy the definition of 'special education course' as defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act, the supply of which will be GST-free.

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