Edited version of your private ruling

Authorisation Number: 1012543999131

Ruling

Subject: GST and education course

Question 1

Is your supply of the workshop, a GST-free supply of an adult and community education course (ACE)?

Answer

Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances

· You are registered for goods and services tax (GST).

· You are a not-for-profit body.

· You are a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

· You are the peak association for community managed health organisations.

· You have a Learning and Development Unit (LDU) that offers recognised qualifications including certificate, diploma and advanced diploma courses.

· The LDU also offer Professional Development seminars presented by qualified trainers which are available to member organisations and to the general community.

· These courses are one or two day workshops that are directed at people who want to add to their employment related skills. Each course has clear objectives and outcomes. Course handbooks are provided to participants free of charge.

· You are offering a one day workshop at four locations in New South Wales in certain months of the recent year. This workshop is organised by you as a peak organisation and not through your LDU.

· Your brochure states that the workshop is designed for key people within the community managed sector. This includes management, service designers, human resources and marketing staff and is going to add to their employment related skills.

· There is a cost to attend the workshop which is differentiated between members and non-members.

· The workshop is not a vocational education and training program listed on your registration as an RTO or a course listed under your scope of registration.

· The workshop is not restricted to members only. The workshop is available for attendance by members and non-members.

· Subscription membership with your organisation is open to adults in the general community and there are no restrictions or pre-requisites to become a member.

· The workshop is widely advertised by you and is available to adults in the general public.

· You have not been refused recognition or disqualified by a State or Territory authority as a provider of adult and community education courses.

Relevant legislative provisions

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Section 9-5

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

You make a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the GST Act if:

· you make a supply for consideration

· the supply is made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise that you carry on

· the supply is connected with Australia, and

· you are registered or required to be registered for GST.

However, the supply is not a taxable supply to the extent that it is GST-free or input taxed.

The supply of an education course is GST-free under paragraph 38-85(a) of the GST Act. An education course is defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act to include, amongst other things:

· a tertiary course

· an 'adult and community education course'.

Tertiary course is defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act to mean:

· a course of study or instruction that is a tertiary course determined by the Education Minister under subsection 5D(1) of the Student Assistance Act 1973 for the purposes of that Act

· a course of study or instruction accredited at Masters or Doctoral level and supplied by a higher education institution or a non-governmental higher education institution, or

· any other course of study or instruction that the Education Minister has determined is a tertiary course for the purposes of this Act.

Determination No. 2002/1 - Determination of Education Institutions and Courses under subsections 3(1) and 5D(1) of the Student Assistance Act 1973 provides that an RTO is an education institution for the purposes of the GST Act.

Determination No. 2002/1 provides that an accredited course at the diploma and advanced diploma level delivered by an RTO is a tertiary course. Based on the information provided by you, the workshop that you provide is not an accredited tertiary course under the scope of your registration. As such, your education course is not a GST-free tertiary course.

Section 195-1 of the GST Act and the Education Minister's Determination A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Adult and Community Education Courses) Determination 2000 (Education Minister's Determination) provide that an ACE course means a course of study or instruction that is:

(i)   likely to add to the employment related skills of people undertaking the course

(ii)  of a kind determined by the Education Minister to be an ACE course, and

(iii) provided by, or on behalf of, a body that is:

§ a higher education institution,

§  recognised or funded by the relevant State or Territory authority as a provider of ACE courses, or

§ a body corporate operating on a not-for-profit basis that has not been refused recognition, or disqualified, by a State or Territory authority as a provider of ACE courses.

The workshop provided by you, based on the information supplied, is likely to add to the employment related skills of the participants (in accordance with Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2000/27) and you are a not-for-profit body corporate that has not been denied recognition as a provider of ACE courses by the relevant State or Territory authority. Therefore, the first and third requirements of the definition of an ACE course are satisfied.

The second requirement for an ACE course is that it must be of a kind determined by the Education Minister to be an ACE course. At subsection 5(2) of the Education Minister's Determination, the Education Minister states that an ACE course must:

(a)  not be any other education course defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act;

(b)  be available to adults in the general community;

(c)  not be provided by or at the request of an employer to employees of that employer;

(d)  not be provided by or at the request of an organisation to members of that organisation, except an organisation for which membership is open to adults in the general community; and

(e)  not be a course that is provided by way of private tuition to an individual.

The workshop is not of a kind mentioned in any other paragraph of the definition of education courses in section 195-1 of the GST Act.

The workshop is widely advertised by you. While members of your organisation are offered entry at a lower price than non-members, the courses are not restricted to your members only. Therefore, the course is available to adults in the general community.

The workshop is not provided at the request of an employer to employees of that employer or by an organisation for its members and the workshop is not provided by way of private tuition.

As such, the workshop provided satisfies the criteria of the Education Minister's Determination and the second requirement of an ACE course is satisfied.

As you are a not-for-profit body corporate that supplies courses that are likely to add to the employment related skills of participants, and does so in circumstances that are in accordance with the Education Minister's Determination, the workshop supplied by you is a supply of an ACE course that is GST-free under section 38-85 of the GST Act.