In Slovakia, lecturers and online course creators most often operate under the free trade “Out-of-school educational activity”. With lower income, simple tax records or flat-rate expenses are enough; full double-entry accounting is only kept by a limited liability company. A lecturer must register for VAT once turnover exceeds 50,000 euros, and the VAT exemption for education does not apply to an ordinary lecturer without accreditation.
This field has one peculiarity: many lecturers treat courses as a side income and for a long time deal only with an invoice and a tax return. But once tutoring turns into a full business and online courses sold through platforms abroad start to pile up, the questions around the form of business, record-keeping and VAT stop being a formality. We go through them step by step, with figures valid for 2026.
Which form of business should a lecturer choose?
For the vast majority of lecturers, trainers and course creators the right choice is the free trade “Out-of-school educational activity” (classification 28.1). It covers organising courses, training and seminars, tutoring and student preparation, and you do not have to prove education or practice. The exception is teaching foreign languages and teaching in the field of art — these do not fall under this free trade and have their own regime.
A trade licence pays off as long as you work alone and your income is in the tens of thousands of euros per year. However, once you start employing other lecturers, building a brand with higher sales or want to separate personal assets from business risk, an s.r.o. (limited liability company) comes into play. When the switch truly pays off depends mainly on the combination of income level and how much money you actually withdraw for private consumption.
When do records suffice and when is accounting needed?
A sole trader is not obliged to keep double-entry accounting. There are three practical ways to claim expenses. The first is flat-rate expenses of 60 % of income, but no more than 20,000 euros per year — paid social and health contributions are added on top. The second is tax records of actual expenses, chosen by lecturers with higher real costs for equipment and rentals. The third is voluntary single-entry or double-entry accounting. A limited liability company, by contrast, always keeps double-entry accounting.
The choice between the flat rate and actual expenses follows a clear logic. One important exception that lecturers forget: even a flat-rate taxpayer must keep records of income, receivables and inventory. Anyone selling, for instance, printed workbooks or video licences records them regardless of claiming expenses by the flat rate.
When must a lecturer register for VAT?
The obligation to register arises once turnover exceeds 50,000 euros. What matters is exceeding the threshold — at exactly 50,000 euros the obligation does not yet arise, only at 50,000.01 euros. You file the application within five working days, but you usually become a VAT payer only from 1 January of the following year. Only if a single supply exceeds 62,500 euros do you become a payer immediately on the day of that supply.
A separate trap lurks when buying services from abroad. If a lecturer pays for advertising on Facebook, buys access to a foreign course platform or video-editing software from a company in another EU country, an obligation to register under § 7a arises even before the turnover threshold is reached.
Are courses exempt from VAT, or not?
This is the most common misconception in the whole field. The VAT Act (§ 31) does exempt educational services, but only if provided by an entity with special authorisation — for example a school under the School Act, a university or a provider of accredited further education under accreditation from the Ministry of Education. An ordinary lecturer or creator of commercial courses does not hold this authorisation.
The consequence is clear: commercial courses, training and webinars are subject to the standard VAT regime at the basic rate of 23 %. The exemption cannot be applied merely because the subject is “education”. Anyone claiming the exemption without accreditation risks tax assessments during an inspection.
How does VAT work for online courses sold abroad?
For online courses it matters whether it is live teaching or an automated product. A recorded online course that a customer buys and plays themselves without the lecturer’s involvement is, for VAT purposes, an electronically supplied service. When sold to a non-taxable person, the place of supply is the country where the customer resides, so the tax belongs to that country. To avoid registering in every state separately, you use the OSS special scheme and pay the foreign VAT from Slovakia through a single return.
Conversely, a live online course led by a lecturer in real time is not considered an electronically supplied service and is assessed as an ordinary service. Note also that if you sell courses through a large platform, it may in certain cases act as a so-called deemed supplier and account for the VAT towards the end customer itself.
How much does a lecturer pay in taxes and contributions (example)?
Example: A lecturer is in her second year of trade and earns 30,000 euros in 2026. She claims flat-rate expenses of 60 %, i.e. 18,000 euros, plus paid contributions. Minimum self-employed contributions in 2026 are 303.11 euros to the Social Insurance Agency and 121.92 euros to the health insurer, together 425.03 euros per month. After deducting the flat rate, contributions and the tax-free part of the base, her taxable base drops enough that she pays income tax at 15 %.
An important detail for beginners: in the first year of trade, social insurance is not paid, and the obligation only arises based on income after filing the first tax return. Lecturers therefore often underestimate that from the second or third year their contributions rise significantly.
Which expenses can a lecturer claim and where do they go wrong?
With tax records, typical deductible expenses of a lecturer are:
- recording equipment — camera, microphone, lighting, computer,
- software and subscriptions to course, video-editing and webinar platforms,
- rental of a training room and travel to in-person courses,
- marketing, advertising and website creation,
- professional literature and the lecturer’s own education.
There are three most common mistakes. The first is failing to register under § 7a on the first purchase of a foreign service. The second is mixing private and business equipment without reasonable apportionment — a laptop also used at home cannot be claimed at 100 %. The third is overlooking OSS when selling recorded courses abroad, which leads to the tax being paid to the wrong state. Anyone who watches these three points from the start saves themselves amended returns and penalties later.
The uncertainty around VAT and the education exemption costs lecturers the most precisely because the error only surfaces during an inspection. We will gladly set up your records and VAT regime so they fit from the very first course.
FAQ
Does a lecturer need a trade licence, or is occasional income enough?
If you lecture systematically, for profit and in your own name, it is a business and you need a trade licence — most often the free trade “Out-of-school educational activity”. Occasional income without a licence only applies to a genuinely incidental, one-off activity. Regular paid courses or tutoring are already a systematic activity, so the occasional-income regime does not apply to them.
Are my online courses exempt from VAT?
Usually not. The exemption under § 31 of the VAT Act applies only to entities with special authorisation, such as accredited providers of further education or schools. An ordinary commercial course or webinar is subject to the standard VAT rate of 23 % once you are a payer. The mere fact that the subject is education is not enough for the exemption.
How do I tax the sale of a recorded course to a customer in another EU country?
A recorded course without the lecturer’s involvement is an electronically supplied service. When sold to a non-taxable person, the place of supply is the customer’s country, so the VAT belongs there. The simplest solution is the OSS special scheme, through which you file one return in Slovakia and pay the foreign tax without registering in each state. If you sell the course through a platform, check whether it pays the tax as a deemed supplier.