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Edited version of your written advice
Authorisation Number: 1051188303303
Date of advice: 14 February 2017
Ruling
Subject: GST and Training Courses
Question
Are your supplies of the education courses GST-free supplies of tertiary courses pursuant to section 38-85?
Answer
No
For your course to be GST-free it must relevantly be of a kind determined by the Education Minister. The Education Minister has determined that you must be a registered training organisation or a tertiary institution. As you are neither of these, your supplies of your courses are not GST-free. Rather, they are taxable supplies pursuant to section 9-5.
Relevant facts and circumstances
You are registered for GST.
You provide training and professional services to the IT sector.
You are not a registered training organisation (RTO) and your courses are not VET courses.
Your training equips the participants with specific skills. The training can also be offered by colleges or TAFE establishments as part of a curriculum that aims to provide a final qualification with industry specific capability and knowledge.
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 and
A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Section 195-1
Reasons for decision
In this reasoning, unless otherwise stated,
● all legislative references are to the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act)
● all reference materials referred to are available on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website www.ato.gov.au
● all legislative terms of the GST Act marked with an asterisk are defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act
Section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) provides that you make a taxable supply if:
(a) you make the supply for consideration
(b) the supply is made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise that you carry on
(c) the supply is connected with the indirect tax zone; and
(d) you are registered, or required to be registered.
However, the supply is not a taxable supply to the extent that it is GST-free or input taxed.
In this case, you are registered for GST and will be supplying courses for consideration and the enterprise is located in the indirect tax zone as you operate in Australia. Therefore, paragraphs 9-5(a) to (d) are satisfied. In addition the supply of the courses will not be input taxed. Therefore your supplies will be taxable supplies unless they are GST free.
Subsection 38-85 of the GST Act provides that a supply of an education course is GST-free.
The definition of an education course in section 195-1 of the GST Act relevantly includes a tertiary course.
The definition of an education course includes amongst other things, a tertiary course which is relevantly defined to mean:
(a) 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 purpose of the Act, or
(b) any other course of study or instruction that the Education Minister has determined is a tertiary course for the purpose of the Act.
The Student Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination 2009 (No. 2). (Determination 2009) states that a course is a tertiary course for the purposes of the Student Assistance Act 1973 (SAA) if it is:
● Specified in the Determination to be a tertiary course, and
● Conducted by an education institution specified for that course.
For your course to be GST-free it must relevantly be of a kind determined by the Education Minister. The Education Minister has determined that you must be a registered training organisation or a tertiary institution. As you are neither of these, your supplies of your courses are not GST-free. Rather, they are taxable supplies pursuant to section 9-5.