Horse-racing and betting receipts treated as casual income, falling outside business income and taxability on the facts.

Receipts from horse-racing and betting were treated as income, but they were not shown to arise from a commercially organised business, profession or vocation. The activities could not be meaningfully split for tax characterisation, so the receipts fell under the residuary head of income from other sources rather than business or professional income. Because the gains depended on chance, they were treated as casual; their repeated occurrence did not convert them into recurring receipts. On that basis, the receipts fell within the exclusion for casual and non-recurring income and were not taxable in the assessee's hands.

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Issues: Whether receipts from horse-racing and betting constituted assessable income and, if so, whether they were exempt as casual and non-recurring receipts not arising from business, profession or vocation.

Analysis: The receipts from racing and betting were held to be income, but the material did not justify treating the activity as the assessee's business, profession or vocation. The activities were not shown to be carried on on a commercially organised basis, and there was no sufficient basis to split betting from racing for this purpose. Since the receipts did not fall within business income or income from a profession, vocation or occupation, they were brought under the residuary head of income from other sources. On the facts, successful betting and racing receipts were dependent on chance and were therefore casual; their repeated occurrence did not make them recurring in nature.

Conclusion: The receipts were income but were exempt from tax under the provision excluding casual and non-recurring receipts, so they were not taxable in the assessee's hands.

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