P2E gamers, minors no longer safe from the taxman, says Koinly

Earning income by playing to win is "complicated" without tax advice, advise Australian crypto tax specialists.

Modern parents are going to have to keep a closer eye on their children's gaming habits as some of them could rack up a hefty tax bill, according to a crypto tax expert.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at last week's Australian Crypto Convention, Adam Saville-Brown, regional head of tax software company Koinly, said many don't realize that revenue from play-to-game games -earn (P2E) may be subject to tax consequences in the same way as crypto trading and investing.

This is especially true for play-to-earn blockchain games that offer in-game tokens that can be traded on exchanges and therefore have real financial value.

"Parents used to worry about their children playing games like GTA, with violence […] but now parents have to be aware of a whole new level […] of tax complexities."< /p>

Saville-Brown said he was approached at the convention by the father of a nine-year-old son who was worried his boy was "making money" from P2E games.

“The nine-year-old…mines, stakes, creates Youtube and TikTok videos to the point that his dad had to bring him here today because he generates so much revenue,” Saville-Brown told Cointelegraph.< /p>

However, the treatment of P2E gaming revenue, at least in Australia, can be complex.

Koinly's tax manager, Danny Talwar, explained that in Australia, if you play a game to earn income, you are considered to be "running a business" and can face a situation "complicated" tax, noting:

"If you are a professional gamer, you may run a business, so you will be treated according to these rules."

It's even more complicated because players can either "play these games as an investor" or "play these games as a trader".

According to the Australian Revenue Service,