Scientific and educational events

Scope

The information sheet deals with school and university education, training, continuing education and vocational retraining in accordance with § 4 No. 22 letter a UStG. The BMF wishes to provide businesses with criteria to assist them in interpreting the individual requirements for VAT exemption. The education of children and young people, which is also covered by Section 4 No. 22 letter a UStG, is not the subject of this letter. 

Key provisions (excerpt)

The content of the event must be educationally relevant – this includes, for example, language courses, but also events on political or cultural topics. The event must be based on an educational and didactic concept – the BMF lists what this entails: among other things, structured event planning, the definition of clearly defined learning objectives and the establishment of framework conditions such as location, time, etc.  The target group and their prior knowledge must be taken into account and suitable methods must be selected.

The focus of the event must be on imparting knowledge and skills and initiating a learning process. This is not the case if only the organisational framework for a leisure activity is provided, as is the case, for example, with animated dance evenings, or with simple pottery-making, where the focus is on the production of the item. If playing sports or making music together is the main focus, this does not fall under § 4 No. 22 letter a UStG, but may be a sporting or cultural event eligible for a VAT exemption under § 4 No. 22 letter b UStG. 

The teacher must have professional and pedagogical qualifications. Here, the BMF sets the framework relatively broadly: depending on the individual case, specific life experience, for example, may also be sufficient.

Events that are recognised under educational leave laws or similar laws of the federal states or approved under the Distance Learning Protection Act are events of a scientific or educational nature in accordance with § 4 No. 22 letter a UStG.

Classification

Some of the topics discussed here also play a role in educational services pursuant to § 4 No. 21 UStG, on which the BMF published a letter on the same day. Fortunately, the letters are consistent with regard to these topics, e.g. sport or qualifications. 

In our opinion, the explanations and examples can be summarised as follows: In the case of an event of a scientific or educational nature, it is not sufficient for participants to do something together; they must also learn something in the process. The service provider must proceed in a planned and structured manner.

Author: Nadia Schulte