In which cases will the input VAT invoice for training events or qualifying conferences be deductible?

Many companies are organising training events for their clients or employees. Will the input VAT for the corresponding invoices be deductible?

There is a right to deduct input VAT for purchased goods and services, however, under the pre-condition that the purchased services are corresponding with business activities liable to VAT. Undoubtedly, one hand there is a context between sales promotion, advertising, and enhancing the qualification of employees, and on the other hand the VAT liable business activities.

If the training events are related to the above mentioned issues, in principle the input VAT for training events will be deductible. Therefore, it is important to have a written training program or other documents that shows the character or the content of the organised training event.

According to VAT regulations, input VAT which is incurred on accommodation and service is not deductible. Often such services are part of training events. If a taxable company purchases accommodation and services separately, the input VAT will not be deductible.

In most cases those services will not be bought separately, but together with others offered by a hotel, like hiring conference halls, provision of training documents for the participants, accommodation and service. Assuming that the mentioned services are offered as a single and composite service, the input VAT will be deductible, even for the included costs of accommodation and service.

Analysing these issues more comprehensively, one might find at first that in the VAT context, every single service must be checked separately. However, if several services are very closely connected to one another, that from an economical point of view, create one service, they should not be separated artificially for tax reasons. So if several services are united, it is called a complex business service.

To consider hiring conference halls, provision of training documents and accommodation as a single or complex business service, it is necessary that these services are very closely connected to each other, and the customer must consider it as one single service. In this regard, it is helpful if the taxable company has documents or contracts, showing that all of these services together are in fact a single or complex one.

It should be noted that a complex business service related to training events or to qualifying conferences, is provided as soon as the single services from which it is composed are completed. If a complex business service offered by the organiser of a training event includes accommodation and service for the participants of the event, it must be considered as a comprehensive service, the input VAT is deductible.

Source: money.pl, 09 September, 2014