Private ruling: Income tax - assessable income - business v hobby
Date of advice: 22 September 2025
Published: 10 November 2025
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX | Year ended 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are the receipts from your gambling activities assessable income under section 6-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997)? | A1: No.Taking in consideration the factors of your case, it is the Commissioner's view that you are not carrying on a business of gambling. Particular weight is given to the fact that while you utilise a degree of skill and judgment in determining betting opportunities, the outcome is dependent on chance. This is consistent with the principles set out in Taxation Ruling IT 2655 Income tax: betting and gambling - whether taxpayer carrying on business of betting or gambling . Therefore, the winnings received in relation to this activity will not be assessable under section 6-5 of the ITAA 1997.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You began engaging in gambling activities. You operate from a home office. You place approximately X bets per week through your personal online accounts. The value of the bets varies but would not exceed $X per bet. You place bets on a range of activities including dogs, horses, harnesses and sports. When determining what bet to place, you rely on your experience, knowledge and research conducted. You experiment and try software. The software compares the bookmakers' prices and finds which is the highest. Due to the popularity of software tools you try to stick to your own knowledge to stay away from the crowd. There is no business plan. The gambling activities started because you are passionate about betting. You believed this was only short term because of the nature of gambling, its volatility and randomness. You have no other outside employment. Over the last X years you have accumulated winnings of approximately $X. No bookkeeping has been done and there is no tracking of betting activities. You spend a few hours per week on gambling accounts in your name.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-5