In December 2015 the European Commission released a new VAT eLearning programme. The course consists out of 12 modules. For being able to do the course the modules have to be downloaded/saved to the hard disk of the computer you want to do the course on. The modules are freely available for download.

I myself downloaded and did the first module of the programme. Now I have to admit that I am not a VAT expert, but to me the course seems very interesting and it seems to be a handy tool to get a basic understanding of the EU VAT-Directive. At the moment the programme is only available in the English language, but the European Commission states that in a later stage it will also be made available in other languages.

Downloading and installing the course was very easy to do. Before being able to download a module the European Commission however asks to be provided with some information regarding the person/persons that are going to follow the course, like a.o. an e-mail address, the country you live in and a company name (not required).

The module I did (VAT Introduction) started with a lecture. This was then followed by a few questions I could/had to answer and that I could to check whether I had absorbed the topic that was discussed.

The last part of the module consists out of a so-called self-assessment, which is meant to help the individual taking the course with assessing his/her understanding of the material. The programme keeps a participant’s score and if it is not satisfying, a participant is urged to take the self-assessment/redo the module again. If the score is satisfying, the participant can finalize and close the respective module.

The new VAT eLearning programme consists out of the following 12 modules:

·        VAT Introduction

·        VAT Territory (The VAT Territory course covers the question: ‘Does the transaction take place within the territory of the EU?)

·        VAT Taxable person (The VAT Taxable person course covers the question: ‘Who are the persons involved in the transaction?)

·        VAT Transactions (The VAT Transactions course covers the question: ‘Which transactions are subject to VAT?)

·        VAT Place of taxable transactions (The VAT Place of taxable transactions course covers the question: ‘Where is the transaction taxed?)

·        VAT Digital services & MOSS (The VAT Digital Services and MOSS course covers the question: ‘What are the rules for the place of supply of digital services introduced in January 2015 and what about the Mini One-Stop Shop (MOSS)?)

·        VAT Chargeable event & Taxable amount (VAT Chargeable event and Taxable amount: the course covers the questions:‘When does the chargeable event take place and VAT become chargeable?’and ‘On what is VAT calculated?)

·        VAT Rates (The VAT Rates course covers the question: ‘Which percentage rate should be used?)

·        VAT Exemptions (The VAT Exemptions course covers the question: ‘Which transactions are exempt from VAT and what the conditions for exemptions to apply are?)

·        VAT Right to deduct (The VAT Right to deduct course covers the question: ‘When does a transaction give the right to deduct VAT?)

·        VAT Refund (The VAT Refund course covers the question: ‘What are the provisions and procedures for a VAT Refund?)

·        VAT Obligations (The VAT Obligations course covers the question: ‘What are the obligations you need to observe when carrying out an economic activity?)

Click here to be forwarded to the website of the European Commission where links to the modules of the VAT eLearning programme can be found.

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