The Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority (AT) has recently issued Binding Information No. 28889, dated 31 October 2025, regarding the VAT treatment of digital platforms that provide live mentoring sessions, recorded content, written materials and remote teaching programmes. As this is a rapidly expanding sector — particularly in the context of technology platforms, digital academies, mentor marketplaces and online training providers — this binding information is of particular relevance for many of our clients, both domestic and international, who operate educational or technical consultancy infrastructures with a strong digital component.
The request analysed by the AT concerned a Portuguese company operating a digital platform with three main functionalities: (i) recorded mentoring sessions; (ii) written content (articles, texts and training materials) made available digitally; and (iii) live mentoring sessions delivered via video calls. The AT was asked to rule on the legal classification of these operations, their VAT treatment regarding place-of-supply and territoriality rules, the applicable VAT rate, and the potential obligation to resort to the One-Stop Shop (OSS) regime.
The AT’s decision follows an interpretative approach aligned with Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 282/2011 and with Annex D of the Portuguese VAT Code (CIVA), but also reveals several critical issues that must be highlighted, both conceptually and in terms of how these definitions apply to the practical reality of companies, often with significant consequences for international VAT obligations.
The AT begins by distinguishing between services supplied electronically and teaching services delivered over the internet. This distinction — seemingly technical — is in fact of great practical relevance. For the AT, a service is considered to be electronically supplied only when it is essentially automated and requires minimal human intervention. Conversely, when there is meaningful interaction between the mentor and the end user, particularly through videoconferences or live sessions, the operation ceases to qualify as an electronic service and falls under the category of “remote teaching” or “teaching services”. This distinction determines not only the applicable VAT rate and eligibility for certain benefits, but above all the place-of-supply rules and the obligation to charge VAT in other Member States.
In the scenario analysed, the AT concludes that recorded mentoring sessions constitute “distance teaching” and therefore fall within the concept of electronically supplied services. The same applies to written content made available digitally, which is classified as electronic publications. In both cases, human intervention is residual or non-existent, and the services fall within the definition of electronically supplied services under the CIVA and Regulation 282/2011. This classification requires a careful assessment of the types of services provided to correctly determine and apply place-of-supply rules.
The situation is substantially different in the case of live mentoring sessions. For the AT, the existence of a synchronous video call, with interaction between mentor and user, removes the “automated” nature required for qualification as an electronic service. Consequently, these operations do not benefit from the place-of-supply rules applicable to electronic services and are treated as teaching services delivered remotely. This classification has highly relevant implications for companies operating hybrid platforms, as the occurrence of even a single live mentoring session for a European consumer may trigger a series of obligations the company did not foresee.
From a critical perspective, it is worth noting that the AT adopts an excessively segmented interpretation that is not well adapted to modern business models. The distinction between recorded mentoring sessions, live mentoring sessions and written materials is legally understandable, but it does not reflect the increasing integration of these components into hybrid educational programmes, in which the user simultaneously consumes video, live sessions, written materials, exercises and discussion forums. This atomisation increases the complexity of determining the correct VAT place-of-supply, issuing invoices and structuring prices, often leading to inadvertent errors. Based on our experience with clients, many tech companies operating digital training or consultancy platforms only become aware of their VAT obligations in other Member States after accumulating significant sales volumes, at which point they are already non-compliant.
Another critical point concerns the classification of live mentoring sessions as “teaching services”. In practice, many mentoring programmes consist largely of specialised consultancy or technical coaching, without corresponding to formal or structured teaching. The AT does not address the possibility of such services being classified as consultancy, which would place them outside the special rules applicable to teaching and within the general B2B/B2C place-of-supply regime. This omission is relevant because the classification as teaching services imposes stricter VAT obligations, namely taxation in the consumer’s country from the very first euro.
Finally, it is important to note that, in our recent experience, the AT has demonstrated increasingly strict scrutiny of digital operators, particularly regarding the application of the OSS regime, the treatment of sales to European consumers and the segmentation between different types of online services. This trend is especially evident in business models based on large volumes of small cross-border transactions, typical of the e-learning sector, training marketplaces and digital content platforms.
In conclusion, Binding Information No. 28889 confirms the need for companies providing mentoring services, digital training or electronic content to conduct a rigorous assessment of the classification of their services, the VAT place-of-supply rules and the related fiscal obligations. Mixed platforms, which combine recorded components, live sessions and written materials, face a particularly high level of complexity, making it advisable to undertake a full review of their tax model and digital invoicing solutions to ensure full compliance with Portuguese and EU VAT obligations. The Tax Department of Belzuz Abogados, S.L.P., in Portugal, stands ready to assist you throughout this process.