I was wondering whether someone can help me with the following questions:
1. should VAT be charged by a private 'training' provider on courses such as sales training, negotiation, customer services etc if the private training provider is VAT registered
2. what about VAT treatment of private consultancy e.g. if a consultant is hired for a day by a company to provide advice etc on sales techniques?
I have just been through this scenario with one of my clients. They provide training to students in the beauty industry some of which are wholly funded by outside sources (well government funded) and some of whom are not. Originally they were charging VAT on everything, but have since been advised that the amounts charged to students who are fully funded should be exempt from VAT, whereas students who pay for their own training are charged at the standard rate.
I would say that your scenario warrants charging VAT at the standard rate, unless any of the training is funded.
All training is standard rated for VAT, unless specifically exempted. And this requires having the correct legal entity providing the services, e.g: sole trader or non-profit company. Or, as the previous post suggests, there is third party funding. From your description, your services are standard rated.
