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Edited version of private advice
Authorisation Number: 1012628307924
Ruling
Subject: education course
Question
Is the supply of the education course GST-free?
Answer
Yes
Relevant facts and circumstances
• You are registered for goods and services tax (GST).
• You are registered as an registered training organisation (RTO) with the National Register on Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia to provide education courses.
• The National Register is listed on the website: http://training.gov.au/ and is managed by the Department of Industry on behalf of State and Territory Governments.
• You have been given approval as an RTO (education institution) to supply vocational education and training courses.
• The courses of studies are not secondary courses specified in Schedule 1 of the Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination 2009(No:2) - SAA Determination.
Reasons for decision
A supply of an education course is GST-free under paragraph 38-85(a) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act). The term 'education course' is defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act, to include a tertiary course.
Tertiary course is defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act to include:
a course of study or instruction that is a tertiary course determined by the *Education Minister under subsection 5(D)(1) of the Student Assistance Act 1973 for the purposes of that Act; or…
(aa) …
(b) any other course of study or instruction that the Education Minister has determined is a tertiary course for the purposes of this Act.
Under subsection 5(D)(1) of the Student Assistance Act 1973, the Education Minister has determined courses of study or instruction that are tertiary courses under the SAA Determination. Section 10 of the SAA Determination provides further clarification on tertiary courses. It states:
(1) For paragraph 5D (1)(a) of the Act, a tertiary course is a full time course:
(a) specified in Column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 to this instrument that is provided by an education institution specified for that course in Column 2 of that table; or…
(2) Without limiting paragraph (1), a course that meets the requirements of paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) and is not a full time course is a tertiary course for the purposes of paragraph 1061PC of the Social Security Act 1991….
Therefore, where an education course is specified in Column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 (Column 1) and is provided by an education institution specified for that course in Column 2 of that table in Schedule 2 (Column 2), the education course is a tertiary course under the SAA Determination.
The education institutions listed in Column 2 are either a higher education institution or RTO. The meaning of RTO is not provided in the GST Act but is outlined in SAA Determination as:
registered training organisation means an organisation that is registered by the relevant State or Territory training recognition authority in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework to provide one or more vocational education and training programs
Therefore, an organisation is an RTO for an education course if it is registered by the State or Territory training recognition authority to be an education supplier of the vocational education and training programs for the education course.
You are registered as an RTO with the National Register on VET in Australia and have been given approval to provide the vocational education and training courses listed in Column 1. The courses are not secondary course specified in Schedule 1 of the SAA Determination. They are vocational education and training courses listed in Column 1.
As you are an RTO and have been given approval to provide the courses listed in Column 1, the vocational education and training courses are therefore tertiary courses under the SAA Determination. The supplies of tertiary courses are GST-free under paragraph 38-85(a) of the GST Act.
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