The Personal vs Business Distinction in Tax Law

An issue of importance for both income tax as well as VAT purposes in many countries is whether a taxpayer is conducting a personal or business endeavor. South Korea and Canada provide two examples of countries where it can be difficult for a taxpayer to determine whether his or her activities will be regarded as personal or business activities. In these countries the use of the term “business” in the tax legislation has given rise to many court cases. Some of these cases are discussed in this paper. It is suggested that a better approach might be to have more detailed legislation setting out when a taxpayer will be a business. Examples are given of more detailed legislation used in the United States and Australia. While there have still been court cases in these countries relating to situations which fall outside the situations contemplated by the legislation, the legislation has helped to minimize areas of uncertainty relating to this issue.