Training is an import of services

Training is an import of services

As a rule, training services are classified as services related to other forms of education, which means that such services are classified as education services, i.e. they are exempt from VAT.

This rule also applies to computer software training, but there are two exceptions:

• concerning the provision of training for customers in the field of custom-made software sold by the manufacturer - these services are classified as software development services on the customer's request,
• concerning the conduct of training for customers in the field of third-party software sold, which services are classified as services in the field of retail trade of computers and computer software.

The above exceptions result from the fact that these are "professional IT services, targeted at specific recipients and related mainly to the sale and operation of computer systems and software. Customers order software for both organizational and business purposes, as well as for research and scientific purposes. These are highly specialized software, the operation of which requires prior training of users ”(letter of 30 December 2009, ref. IPPP3-443-1110 / 09-2 / JF).

This means that the treatment of a software training service from an EU contractor as an import of the service depends on the circumstances in which the training services in question are provided.

If the EU contractor providing this service is a producer or distributor of a computer program subject to training, the service provided by him is not a training service, which means that it should be treated as an import of the service, on which VAT should be accounted for. On the other hand, if the EU company was not the producer or distributor of the computer program that the training concerned, if the training took place in Poland, the purchase of this service would constitute an import of a VAT-exempt service. In such a situation, the place of providing the training service, as a service related to education, would be on the territory of Poland.