Ana gives maths tutoring to secondary-school students. Rui delivers Excel training to companies. Both assume “teaching is VAT-exempt”. One is right; the other is in for a surprise - and the difference isn’t in what they know, it’s in a certification.
Art. 9.º exempts teaching - but not all of it
The art. 9.º CIVA exemption covers teaching and tutoring of school subjects. Ana, who teaches curriculum material, issues green receipts without VAT - exempt under art. 9.º.
The catch is vocational training. Here the exemption doesn’t belong to the person delivering it - it belongs to the training body recognised as competent, which in practice means DGERT-certified. A CCP (pedagogical competence certificate) is a qualification of yours, not a certification of your activity.
The “incomplete exemption” trap
The art. 9.º exemption has a catch Ana needs to know: it’s incomplete. Since she charges no VAT, she also can’t deduct the VAT she pays on her purchases (computer, materials, software) - that VAT stays a cost of hers (art. 20.º of the CIVA). It’s not “VAT at 0%”, it’s an exempt operation.
And Rui? Three routes
Rui, a solo trainer with just a CCP, has three options:
- He invoices up to €15,000/year of turnover in Portuguese territory → he can use the art. 53.º exemption (reason M10): no VAT because he’s a small business.
- He goes over that → he charges 23% VAT on the training.
- The training is delivered by a DGERT-certified body → then it’s exempt under art. 9.º - but it’s the body that supplies and invoices it as exempt, not Rui putting M07 on his own invoice just for working with it.
The rest is like any freelancer
You open activity with your activity code (teaching/training), and Social Security is the usual one: 21.4% on 70% of what you invoice. The big tax decision for a tutor or trainer is really the VAT one above.
Careful: the commonest mistake is Rui’s - assuming “I deliver training, so I’m exempt”. The art. 9.º exemption belongs to the certified body, not to the trainer with a CCP. Check which hat you’re invoicing under before you decide the VAT.
✅ In summary
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Tutoring of school subjects = exempt under art. 9.º (reason M07). But it’s an incomplete exemption: you don’t deduct the VAT on your purchases.
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Vocational training is only exempt under art. 9.º when it’s a DGERT-certified body - a solo trainer with only a CCP charges 23%, unless covered by the art. 53.º exemption (up to €15,000/year).
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With FIZ you issue receipts with the right exemption reason (art. 9.º, art. 53.º or 23% VAT) without memorising code articles, and VAT and Social Security are handled for you. See the plans.
