The appellant appealed reassessments for the 2009, 2010, and 2011 taxation years that included his net poker earnings as business income.
The Tax Court of Canada found that the appellant played poker in a non-recreational manner with the subjective intention to profit, organizing his life around the game and adopting objective standards of risk management.
The Court concluded that the appellant was operating a business and his poker earnings were taxable as business income.
The appeals for 2009 and 2010 were dismissed, while the appeal for 2011 was allowed in part to reduce his taxable income by $279,830 based on a partial consent regarding a specific tournament win.
