Private ruling: Honorariums
Date of advice: 25 March 2019
Published: November 2022
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are the payments amounting to $XXX received non-assessable income? | A1: Yes. Having considered your circumstances and the relevant factors, the Commissioner accepts that the payments are honorary. The payments have some characteristics of assessable income, i.e. they are expected and relied upon. However, they have no connection with your income producing activities, they are not legally required and they are a token amount compared to the services you have provided. On balance, the payments are considered to be honorary payments and are therefore non-assessable for taxation purposes. Further information on Honorariums is available by searching 'QC 46354' on ato.gov.au

Relevant facts and circumstances: You volunteer as a lecturer for an online University. Your employment is in another field of work. The university offers tuition-free degrees to the underprivileged. You only provide volunteer services on a needs basis each term You volunteer for approximately XX hours per week over a number of weeks to complete each course. You receive a payment for each course. The payments, when calculated against your hours of work, amounts to a small percentage of the minimum hourly wage. During the financial year, you received five $XXX.XX (USD) payments. You do not represent your employer at the university. The payment has no connection to your income-producing activities or services

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subsection 6-5(2)