Teaching music as a KOR teacher

Do you teach music as a self-employed professional under the Dutch small businesses scheme (KOR)? Then School of Music is built for you. You stay independent, you keep your VAT exemption, and we take care of new students, scheduling and payment. Creating a profile is free and comes with no obligations.

Sign up for free

• Keep your VAT exemption
• How your payment works
• You stay in charge
• What does it cost?
• How to sign up
• Frequently asked questions about the KOR

Keep your VAT exemption

This is something comparable music teaching platforms do not take into account: either they leave you to handle all the administration yourself, or they collect the lesson fee themselves without a legally covered route.

School of Music does it differently: we use the marketplace model for this. With that model, your student's payment is automatically split at checkout — your share goes directly to your own account and our commission is deducted straight away. This way, lesson fees from students aged 21 and over reach you directly via this marketplace route, so your independence — and with it your VAT exemption — stays covered.

For you as a KOR teacher, everything revolves around one thing: keeping your VAT exemption while your teaching practice grows. Here is how we arranged that:

• You stay independent and keep benefiting from your VAT exemption. Your lesson fees arrive without VAT and your revenue is demonstrably in your name.
• We warn you in time when you approach your maximum allowed VAT-taxed revenue (the KOR threshold of €20,000). Lesson fees from students up to and including 20 are VAT-exempt and do not count towards it.
• Prices stay the same for your students, whichever payment route applies. If you ever switch from the KOR to VAT-liable, you will not run into a price transition problem.
• We do ask you to keep the same prices if you also offer your lessons elsewhere online.

As a freelancer I'm very happy with the services School of Music provides. Through this online platform I reach more students and make myself as a small entrepreneur more visible and findable!

Mirjam

How your payment works

Music lessons for students aged 21 and over are normally subject to VAT; for younger students music lessons are VAT-exempt. Our payment follows exactly that line. For students aged 21 and over, School of Music works with the marketplace model: when the student pays, the amount is split at the moment of payment and your share goes directly to your own payment account (via your own free Mollie account). From the very first moment it is demonstrably your revenue — exactly what you want under the KOR.

This way of working is also legally solid. As a self-employed professional you must meet the Dutch independence requirement — and that is only guaranteed when you collect your own revenue yourself, rather than a platform collecting it first and paying you afterwards. Because the lesson fee flows directly to you, your position as an independent professional stays on paper exactly what it is in practice. That is precisely why we set up payments this way.

Lesson fees from students up to and including 20 (VAT-exempt) are collected by us through the regular route: you invoice us for those lessons as usual and we pay you out.

• Payout of your marketplace lesson fees to your bank account around the 10th of the following month, after any cancellations and corrections have been settled.
• For your marketplace payments you do not create any invoices yourself: we draw them up on your behalf (self-billing) and you receive one clear commission invoice each month.
• In your own dashboard you see all your payouts, sent and received invoices in one place.

You stay in charge

Whichever payment route applies — you stay in charge of your teaching practice:

• You make the schedule with your students yourself; our booking system helps by automatically filling empty spots in your schedule with new trial lesson bookings.
• You are the point of contact for your students yourself.
• You choose which lessons you invoice and when you make an exception to our terms.

Nice, easy and communicative staff that takes care of all the bureaucracy.

Maddalena

What does it cost?

Creating a profile is free and comes with no obligations; we work on a no cure no pay basis and only charge when you earn.

• 18.4% commission on students we recruit for you; 8.4% for students you bring in yourself. We charge 21% VAT on the commission.
• Teaching at one of our own locations (Rotterdam region)? From 1 September 2026 you pay a fixed rate of €6.60 per room-hour — only for the hours you actually teach there.
• You set your own hourly rate.

How to sign up

1. Create your profile online with your photo, introduction and rates.
2. We schedule a short online intake interview and then approve your profile.
3. KOR teacher? Activate your own payment account: an identity check at Mollie and a one-time €1 activation payment into your own account.
4. You are live — students can book a trial lesson with you right away.

Frequently asked questions about the KOR

Do I keep my VAT exemption when teaching through School of Music?

Yes. You remain a self-employed professional and you receive lesson fees from students aged 21 and over through the marketplace route directly into your own account, without VAT. As long as you stay under the KOR threshold, nothing changes about your exemption.

What happens when I approach the KOR threshold?

We warn you in time when your VAT-taxed revenue through us heads towards the €20,000 threshold, so you can decide how to handle it. Lesson fees from students up to and including 20 are VAT-exempt and do not count towards it.

Do I need to change my prices if I ever leave the KOR?

No. Prices stay the same for your students, whichever payment route applies. When switching from the KOR to VAT-liable, you are not stuck with a price increase towards your students.

Am I still truly independent when working through a platform?

Yes — especially with us. You set your own rate, keep full control over your teaching practice and collect your lesson fees directly. That direct money flow safeguards the independence requirement; that is why payments are set up this way.

Do I need to create invoices myself?

Not for your marketplace payments: we draw up those invoices on your behalf (self-billing). Lessons for students up to and including 20 run through the regular route, and you invoice us as usual.

Can I bring my existing students?

Yes, you register them with us at the lower commission rate of 8.4%. Their lesson fees (for students aged 21 and over) also reach you directly through the marketplace route.

I now have more than 20 students through you, and especially in these times that's very nice!

Yuri

Ready to get started? Create your profile today via sign up as a teacher. Not a KOR teacher? See our general page for music teachers, or read the terms for teachers first.

Sign up as a teacher