The Central Register Short Vocational Education (CRKBO)

Training institutes and teachers who demonstrably comply with the Quality Code for Training Institutes for Short Vocational Education can register. The advantage of registration with CRKBO is that VAT exemption can be obtained. All non-government-funded institutes that offer vocational education in the Netherlands can be registered in the CRKBO after an audit or with an exemption. This also applies to foreign providers and 'commercial departments' of government-funded institutes.

Government-funded vocational education institutes are subject to different regulations, which means that they are, in principle, exempt from VAT.

The VAT education exemption

Vocational training courses are exempt from VAT if they are legally recognized in the context of WEB or WHW. This includes the official (V)MBO, HBO and WO courses.

A vocational training program that is not legally recognized can still qualify for exemption if it is offered by an institute that is registered in the CRKBO Register of Institutes.

The VAT exemption only applies to vocational education. Institutes or teachers who also offer general education, advice, leisure courses or other services must pay VAT on the revenues from these activities. Whether a course or service falls under vocational education is determined by the Inspector of Taxes. As a result, a clear distinction must be made in the financial administration between costs and revenues related to vocational education and costs and revenues related to other activities. Consult your bookkeeper/accountant!

Advantages and disadvantages of a VAT exemption

The advantage of a VAT exemption is that you can charge your customers a lower price. This is especially relevant if you provide vocational education to institutes or individuals that cannot deduct VAT. This may be because they are exempt from VAT (for example healthcare institutes), or because they are end customers (private individuals). The disadvantage of a VAT exemption is that you cannot settle (‘recover’) VAT on business-oriented investments or purchases for your activities as a vocational education institute or teacher. It is ultimately your business decision whether you opt for VAT exemption, if you qualify.

CRKBO consists of two registers. A register for 'institutes' and a register for 'teachers'.

First determine in which register you must be included in order to qualify for VAT exemption:

You are an institute that offers training or vocational education courses. It does not matter what legal form your institute has (sole proprietorship, V.O.F., BV, NV, foundation, etc.) or how many staff you have.

You are a teacher if you are a natural person or a legal person who is active as a teacher/trainer and provides educational services on behalf of educational institutes.

Institutes and teachers must register to be included in one of the CRKBO registers. Depending on your situation, a preliminary audit may be necessary.

Audit for Institutes

A positively completed audit is a condition for registration in the CRKBO Register of Institutes. However, not every institute needs to undergo an audit. You can be exempted from the audit obligation if your institute:

holds the ISO 9001 certificate issued by an organization supervised by the Dutch Accreditation Council (RvA), or accredited by AACSB or EFMD/EQUIS;
or offers at least five legally recognized courses (i.e. recognized in the context of WEB or WHW). The official (V)MBO-HBO-WO courses;
or if the number of legally recognized courses in the context of WEB or WHW constitutes at least 50% of all courses offered;
or has the Blik op Werk/Inburgering quality mark;
or has a certification comparable to ISO-9001, granted by an organization that falls under the supervision of the 'Raad for Accreditation'.

Even if you think you have all the necessary exemptions, it is still necessary to register in the CRKBO Register of Institutes. CPION decides on the basis of your application whether your institute is entitled to an exemption. You can then be registered in the CRKBO Register of Institutes without an audit.

After your registration you will be informed whether or not an audit is necessary.

What does the audit for institutes look like?

During a visit to your organization, you will be audited on all points in the audit form. The starting points for the CRKBO audit are: due care, legal certainty, reasonableness, reliability and recognizability. The registration remains valid for 4 years. After that, a new audit is required to renew your registration in the CRKBO Register of Institutes.

You can download the audit. Download the English version of the audit here.

Who performs the audit?

The audit is carried out by CPION. CPION is an independent certifying institute, specialized in auditing training organisations, assessing teachers and testing the content of training courses.

What are the costs for an institute?

Registration costs: € 100 (excl. VAT)
Annual registration contribution: € 50 (excl. VAT) (only to be paid in years in which no (re)audit takes place).

Costs audit and re-audit:

First audit if no exemption: € 710 (excl. VAT)
Re-audit (after 4 years): € 555 (excl. VAT)
With an exemption, no costs for audit, but costs for registration and annual contribution.

Always register first

Your registration in the CRKBO Register of Institutes always starts with a Registration, even if you think you do not have to do an audit on the basis of an exemption. In the first instance, you only need to enter your company name, possible Chamber of Commerce number and e-mail address.

After signing up

After registration you will immediately receive confirmation by e-mail containing your login details (username, password and link).
Go to the link and enter your login details. This will take you to the registration form.
Complete the registration form and submit it online.
You will receive order confirmation and the terms of delivery by e-mail.
Return the signed order confirmation. This can be done by post, or online by PDF. You will receive confirmation of receipt by e-mail.

After CPION has received your order confirmation, you will be contacted within one week. You will then hear whether you can be registered immediately or whether an audit is required first.

If no audit is required, your institute will be registered in the CRKBO Register of Institutes. You will receive an invoice for the registration fee.

If an audit is necessary, you will be contacted to arrange a date and time that is convenient for both parties. You can download the Audit Form in advance, so that you know what information must be available during the audit. You can download the audit. Download the English version of the audit here. The Audit Form is good preparation for the audit, because it gives an impression of the points on which you will be assessed.

After the audit you will receive an invoice for the costs of registration in the CRKBO Register and the audit.

Audit for Teachers

Registration in the CRKBO Register of Teachers is preceded by an audit. However, you can be enrolled without an audit if you have:

a PO teaching qualification and/or a VO, MBO, HBO or university diploma with explicit mention of a 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree teaching qualification,
and/or a relevant diploma from the PHBO Foundation.
Comparable foreign teaching qualifications are also accepted if the diploma is assessed as equivalent by Nuffic (see: www.nuffic.nl). When you register, we ask you to upload a PDF of the diploma or certificate as proof.

NB. Even if you think you have all the necessary exemptions, it is still necessary to register for registration in the CRKBO Register of Teachers.

Not entitled to exemption? Then you can follow the combined Application/Audit procedure.

Are you unable to provide a diploma or certificate that entitles you to exemption from the audit? Then a positive audit is a condition for registration in the CRKBO Register of Teachers. As part of the Application/Audit procedure you will be asked to upload various documents as PDF.

What does the audit for teachers look like?

The documents you upload are assessed for content, completeness, relevance, topicality and validity. The starting points for the audit are: due care, legal certainty, reasonableness, reliability and recognizability. Registration as a teacher is valid indefinitely.

Set to upload when you sign in:

Your resume (curriculum vitae).
Copy of recent order confirmation to a customer.
Proof that you are familiar with the working methods of your client(s) OR: a statement, signed by one of your important clients, that you are. You can download this statement here.
Copy of your diploma or other proof of professional and teaching competence.
Evidence (not older than 3 years) that your performance is regularly reviewed OR: A statement signed by one of your key customers that this is now the case. You can download this statement here.
Copy of a recent invoice or sample invoice to a client.
Proof that you are insured against liability. If you have a company and are registered with the Chamber of Commerce, consider business liability insurance.
When you do not have a company with a Chamber of Commerce registration, your private liability insurance may be sufficient.
If in doubt: ask your insurer which liability insurance covers your activities.

You will receive the results within two weeks of submitting your application/research. You will also receive an invoice for the registration and audit costs.

Who performs the audit?

The audit is carried out by CPION. CPION is an independent certifying institute, specialized in auditing training organisations, assessing teachers and testing the content of training courses.

What are the costs for a teacher?

Registration costs: € 10,- (excl. VAT)
Annual registration contribution: € 15.00 (excl. VAT) (only to be paid from the second year of registration).

Cost audit and limited audit:

Audit if no exemption: € 90 (excl. VAT)
Limited audit after exemption: € 10 (excl. VAT)

Note: If your institute, or if you as a teacher, offer general language education, you are already legally exempt from levying VAT and you do not need a CRKBO registration.