VAT and Sales Tax for LearnDash Courses: A Guide to Selling Online Courses Worldwide

Updated: October 2026

Hello! Wellington here! Your LearnDash developer bringing you important information about how VAT, GST, and sales tax work when selling online courses to students around the world.

One of the great things about creating a course with LearnDash is that your students can be anywhere. But selling internationally also means dealing with different tax rules, even when your business operates from just one country.

First, Not Every Online Course Is Taxed the Same Way

This is an important detail. A self-paced LearnDash course with pre-recorded videos, automated quizzes, and downloadable materials is often classified as an electronically supplied service for VAT purposes.

For example, the UK government’s digital services guidance distinguishes automated courses from certain live, instructor-led courses. The European Union also has specific place-of-supply rules for educational activities made available virtually.

Brexit and VAT (MOSS / OSS)

After Brexit, the UK stopped participating in the EU’s VAT MOSS system. The broader One Stop Shop (OSS) system now helps businesses report VAT on certain cross-border sales within the EU.

Known as MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop) before the expansion of the scheme in 2021, it was originally designed to simplify VAT reporting for digital services, including qualifying online courses. Instead of registering in every EU country where a student lives, eligible businesses can report covered sales through a single portal.

There are two relevant schemes for online course sellers: the Union OSS, generally used by businesses established in the EU, and the Non-Union OSS, used by businesses without an EU establishment for covered services sold to EU consumers. So this isn’t only a UK issue: it can also affect creators based in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, or elsewhere.

Students in the United Kingdom

Check the official HMRC VAT registration guidance and education and vocational training rules before assuming every course is taxed at 20%.

What if I Don’t Make More Than £90,000?

If your UK-established business is below the threshold and is not voluntarily VAT-registered, you generally don’t charge UK VAT on your taxable UK sales. That means the price set in WooCommerce can be the final price. If your platform charges £100, the student pays £100.

This can reduce bureaucracy, but remember that the UK threshold does not automatically exempt you from tax obligations in other countries. Also, without VAT registration, you generally cannot recover VAT on eligible business expenses such as hosting, software, and development.

Businesses not established in the UK should not assume they qualify for the same £90,000 threshold. Different UK registration rules can apply to them.

But What if I Want to Charge VAT Below £90,000?

Yes, you can choose voluntary VAT registration if you’re eligible. However, it’s important to see whether it’s worth it. If your course business is small and your goal is to reduce costs, it may not be the best option. But there are some advantages:

Students in the European Union

For taxable, automated digital courses sold directly to EU consumers, VAT is generally determined by the student’s country of residence. If your course is sold for €100 before VAT to a consumer in France, the applicable French VAT treatment is used. The same principle applies when selling to consumers in Spain, Germany, Portugal, or other EU countries.

You may register under the Non-Union OSS in an EU country of your choice, rather than separately registering for the covered sales in each destination country. For example, you can choose Ireland as your Member State of identification.

Once registered, you submit quarterly OSS returns and pay the VAT due through that country’s portal. Ireland would act as your reporting country for the scheme, not as your tax representative. The OSS identification number is intended for covered OSS transactions, and it does not replace every possible local registration requirement.

If your business is established in the EU, the Union OSS may apply instead. Smaller eligible EU-established businesses should also review the €10,000 threshold, which has specific conditions.

What if I Sell Courses to Countries Outside the UK and EU?

If you sell your course to other countries, the situation depends on where your business is established and where your students are located. For example, a UK business selling an electronically supplied service to a consumer outside the UK generally does not charge UK VAT on that sale, but that doesn’t mean the sale is tax-free everywhere. The student’s country may have its own VAT, GST, or sales tax requirements.

Here are a few examples:

Other countries have their own rules too. So before opening your LearnDash checkout worldwide, check the markets where you expect most of your sales to come from.

This Is Too Confusing. Is There an Easier Way?

Yes. I get it, going through all this just to sell low-cost courses internationally is frustrating. 😆

As a LearnDash developer, here’s what I suggest:

If you don’t want to deal with certain international tax requirements yet, you can restrict the countries where your courses are sold, provided your checkout setup and business policies allow it. So if someone from an unsupported market tries to buy, they won’t be able to complete the purchase.

But many courses, especially in English, are global. If you want to sell worldwide, you can use an intermediary.

Using a Merchant of Record (MoR)

You can use a Merchant of Record such as Paddle or Lemon Squeezy. Instead of handling every customer transaction yourself with Stripe or PayPal, the MoR becomes the legal seller to your customer for transactions processed through its service.

How It Works

In the traditional model, you handle payments, tax calculations where applicable, registrations, reporting, and payments to the relevant tax authorities. You can use WooCommerce Tax or other services to help calculate taxes, but calculating tax is not the same as filing returns or paying that tax to authorities.

With a MoR (Paddle or Lemon Squeezy), the provider sells the digital product to the customer and handles applicable sales tax, VAT, or GST for those transactions. You receive payouts after applicable taxes and fees.

Importantly, a MoR usually takes responsibility for the relevant customer-facing indirect taxes on its own sales. That does not eliminate your own obligations to report business income, account for payouts, or deal with any taxes on the relationship between your business and the MoR.

Why Use It with LearnDash?

If you prefer to keep WooCommerce as your main checkout, LearnDash offers an official WooCommerce integration to link products to courses and manage enrolment. You can combine that with tax calculation tools, but you’ll still need to manage whatever tax registrations and filings apply to your business.

Important Legal Points

For many EU digital-service sales, you need reliable evidence of the customer’s location. This can include a billing address, IP address, or banking information. EU rules commonly require two non-contradictory pieces of evidence, though exceptions and simplified requirements exist in certain circumstances.

If you sell to businesses instead of individual students, the rules can change. For some cross-border B2B transactions, reverse charge treatment may apply, but not simply because someone enters a VAT number. You need to verify the customer’s status, the type of supply, and the applicable rules.

Also, remember that some recognised education providers, courses, and teaching services can qualify for VAT exemptions. That is another reason not to configure a flat tax rate across every LearnDash product without reviewing your circumstances.

If you are building a platform specifically for British students, you can also read my guide on hiring a LearnDash developer in the UK.

Conclusion

If you sell online courses internationally, decide how you’ll handle taxes before you start accepting payments from every country.

If you’re a smaller course creator and don’t want to manage international VAT, GST, and sales tax registrations yourself, Paddle or Lemon Squeezy may be excellent options, provided they accept your course offering, and you have a reliable connection to LearnDash.

For businesses that need a fully customised WooCommerce checkout or have more complex educational products, using a conventional payment gateway with specialist tax software and professional accounting support may make more sense.

Either way, the objective is the same: spend less time worrying about tax settings and more time creating great LearnDash courses.