TAXATION LAW AND PRACTICE ASSIGNMENT

QUESTION

Raelene was a secondary school teacher. She was also an excellent athlete specialising in the hurdles. Raelene's ambition was to be selected for the Australian team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. To be able to be selected for the team Raelene needed to achieve a specified time over the hurdles set be the Australian Olympic Committee. As well she had to achieve at least 10 first second or third placings in a two year period prior to the Rio Olympics at athletic meetings selected by the Australian Olympic Committee. Most of the competitions she was required to compete in were overseas.

The education department, who was Raelene's employer, allowed teachers 2 months leave on full pay if selected in an Australian team. Such a policy would allow Raelene to attend the Olympics. However, to be able to achieve the requirements of the Australian Olympic Committee Raelene needed to take 12 months leave, without any pay, prior to the Olympics to enable here to train, travel and compete as required by the Australian Olympic committee.

Some of the competitions Raelene entered into had prize money. Raelene did not enter these competitions for the prize money. She entered them because she had to because of the requirements of the Australian Olympic Committee. Raelene needed to raise a substantial amount of money to be able to travel, especially since she had no income from her teaching position, having taken leave without pay. To raise the money Raelene did a number of income raising activities. There were three types of activities Raelene undertook,. The first was fund raising with friends such as running barbeques and organising theatre nights. With the barbeque activity Racheal was able to buy the meat cheaply, having explained the reason for buying the meat to the butcher. She was then able to sell meat at the barbeque for more than she had to pay, thus making a profit. All the people attending the barbeque new they were helping to fund Raelene's trip overseas. With the theatre tickets, Raelene would buy tickets 30 at a time, thus buying them at a discount. She was then able to sell the tickets to friends at normal price and make a profit. Raelene also ran a trivia night. Friends paid to buy a table at the trivia night. Raelene was also able to have people donate prizes that could be auctioned off at the trivia night. From these three activities Raelene managed to raise $11,000.

The second activity was form sporting organizations that provided funds to Raelene. Raelene's sporting club, The Eastern Hawks, donated $5,000 to Raelene. As well The Victorian Amateur Athletic Association awarded a scholarship to Raelene, payable on a monthly basis whilst she was overseas. The scholarship was worth $6,000.

The third activity Raelene earned income from was through advertising. Raelene received $5000 from a sock manufacturer to advertise its socks.

As well as the income from the above activities,Raelene also won $10,000 from some of the competitions Raelene entered into.

Raelene left Australia on 1 July 2015 to compete in overseas sporting competitions, especially those competitions specified by the Australian Olympic Committee. The competitions Raelene competed in were in many countries and thus Raelene was on the move most of the time whilst overseas. Raelene was successful in her bid to be selected for the Australian Olympic team. She planned to go straight to the Olympic Village to join the team at the end of July 2016. She would then commence her 2 month leave period from the education department, for being in an Australian team, at this time.

Fully explain if any of the above amounts received by Raelene will be assessable income.