Canadian Tax Blog: Tax Free!? Lottery Winnings & Gifts

Posted: 21 Feb 2011 06:30 AM PST

Residents of Canada who receive a gift, inheritance, or receive lottery or other gambling winnings are not taxed on their receipt and do not have to include these amounts in income for tax purposes. However, giving a gift can sometimes result in unintended tax consequences.

Gifts of Capital Property

If you decide to give capital property such as real estate or investments in stocks as a gift, you will have been deemed to have disposed of the property and may have to pay capital gains tax on the disposition.

In addition, if you give income producing property such as an income paying bond or dividend paying stock to a minor child or other family member who is under age 18 you may still have to have to pay tax on that income.

Employer Gifts

If you own a business and provide gifts to your employees, the gift may be considered a taxable employment benefit to the employee. Cash gifts and cash like gifts such as gift cards will normally be treated as a taxable benefit while other gifts may not.

Gambling Winnings

While gambling winnings are not normally considered income for tax purposes, these winnings can be deemed to be income if it can be shown that your sole source of income is repeated and regular positive gambling.