How is my online course taxed in Europe?
If your buyer is in the EU, VAT is charged where they live, not where you live. Which rate applies, and whether these rules apply at all, comes down to one thing: whether a person does anything for that buyer after they pay.
Most creators never check. The rules do not care what you call your product. They care how it reaches the buyer.
The one thing that decides it
After the buyer pays, does a human do anything for that specific buyer?
- No. Your course is taxed as a digital product, at your buyer's rate, in your buyer's country
- Yes. Different rules apply, and you need advice on your specific case
In the legislation the first case is called an electronically supplied service. You will meet that phrase in official guidance, so it is worth recognising.
Is my course taxed this way?
| What you sell | Taxed as a digital product |
|---|---|
| Pre-recorded video course, all released at once | Yes |
| Pre-recorded video course, drip-fed week by week | Yes |
| Ebook or workbook as a file | Yes |
| Template, spreadsheet model or design file | Yes |
| A bundle of any of the above | Yes |
| One-to-one coaching or consulting | No |
| Live teaching | No |
| Assignments a person marks and comments on | No |
| Anything where the buyer is buying your time | No |
Drip-feeding still counts as automated. A schedule is a setting, not a person.
Live and virtually attended events follow separate rules that are not covered here. Take advice on those specifically.
Why recording it does not count as human effort
Recording a course takes enormous work. That work happened before the buyer arrived, so it does not affect the tax treatment. What counts is whether a person does something for that particular buyer after they have paid.
The full legal test has four parts. The supply must be delivered over the internet, be essentially automated, involve minimal human intervention, and be impossible to provide without information technology. The third part is the one that decides nearly every real case.
What if my course has a live call?
Ask what the buyer is paying for. If the course works fine when nobody joins the call, it is still a course. If the call is the point, it is closer to teaching.
One price covering both may be a mixed supply, which has its own treatment. That is the point to stop guessing and get advice.
What this means in practice
You charge the buyer's rate, not yours. Twenty-seven member states, each with its own rate.
You have to prove where the buyer was. Two pieces of non-contradictory location evidence, usually the billing address and the IP address, captured at the moment of sale. Reconstructing it later does not count. This evidence is what proves the rate you charged was the right one.
You have to register and file. The One Stop Shop makes this one registration and one return instead of twenty-seven. You still register, file on time and keep the records.
Where Click2Pop fits
Click2Pop sells digital products only: courses, templates, ebooks and bundles. Coaching and live teaching are services, and they fall outside the catalog for the same reason this page describes.
For what it does sell, Click2Pop is the Merchant of Record and the sole legal seller. It charges the buyer's rate, captures and holds the location evidence, files the returns and keeps the records, in its own name. You never register for VAT on these sales.
If your product sits in the grey area, say so when you apply. It is easier to sort out before you list than after you have sold.
What a merchant of record is, or apply to sell with Click2Pop.
Last updated: September 2026
How is my online course taxed in Europe?
If your buyer is in the EU, VAT is charged where they live, not where you live. Which rate applies, and whether these rules apply at all, comes down to one thing: whether a person does anything for that buyer after they pay.
Most creators never check. The rules do not care what you call your product. They care how it reaches the buyer.
The one thing that decides it
After the buyer pays, does a human do anything for that specific buyer?
- No. Your course is taxed as a digital product, at your buyer's rate, in your buyer's country
- Yes. Different rules apply, and you need advice on your specific case
In the legislation the first case is called an electronically supplied service. You will meet that phrase in official guidance, so it is worth recognising.
Is my course taxed this way?
| What you sell | Taxed as a digital product |
|---|---|
| Pre-recorded video course, all released at once | Yes |
| Pre-recorded video course, drip-fed week by week | Yes |
| Ebook or workbook as a file | Yes |
| Template, spreadsheet model or design file | Yes |
| A bundle of any of the above | Yes |
| One-to-one coaching or consulting | No |
| Live teaching | No |
| Assignments a person marks and comments on | No |
| Anything where the buyer is buying your time | No |
Drip-feeding still counts as automated. A schedule is a setting, not a person.
Live and virtually attended events follow separate rules that are not covered here. Take advice on those specifically.
Why recording it does not count as human effort
Recording a course takes enormous work. That work happened before the buyer arrived, so it does not affect the tax treatment. What counts is whether a person does something for that particular buyer after they have paid.
The full legal test has four parts. The supply must be delivered over the internet, be essentially automated, involve minimal human intervention, and be impossible to provide without information technology. The third part is the one that decides nearly every real case.
What if my course has a live call?
Ask what the buyer is paying for. If the course works fine when nobody joins the call, it is still a course. If the call is the point, it is closer to teaching.
One price covering both may be a mixed supply, which has its own treatment. That is the point to stop guessing and get advice.
What this means in practice
You charge the buyer's rate, not yours. Twenty-seven member states, each with its own rate.
You have to prove where the buyer was. Two pieces of non-contradictory location evidence, usually the billing address and the IP address, captured at the moment of sale. Reconstructing it later does not count. This evidence is what proves the rate you charged was the right one.
You have to register and file. The One Stop Shop makes this one registration and one return instead of twenty-seven. You still register, file on time and keep the records.
Where Click2Pop fits
Click2Pop sells digital products only: courses, templates, ebooks and bundles. Coaching and live teaching are services, and they fall outside the catalog for the same reason this page describes.
For what it does sell, Click2Pop is the Merchant of Record and the sole legal seller. It charges the buyer's rate, captures and holds the location evidence, files the returns and keeps the records, in its own name. You never register for VAT on these sales.
If your product sits in the grey area, say so when you apply. It is easier to sort out before you list than after you have sold.
What a merchant of record is, or apply to sell with Click2Pop.
Last updated: September 2026