How to report income from a side hustle?

 Author: KaraATO(Community Support)Community Support

14 May 2026

Hi @HReal,

You need to declare your income from the AI training work in your upcoming tax return, even though it's below the tax-free threshold. As an Australian resident for tax purposes with a TFN, you'll include this as 'other income' in your return.

When you lodge your tax return, you'll report the total amount you earned from this work (converted to Australian dollars). You don't need an ABN for this type of work if you were performing it as a one-off or casual arrangement rather than running your own business. Since you were paid through PayPal for hours worked over two months, this sounds like personal services income rather than business income.

Here's what happens at tax time:

• you'll declare all your income, including the USD payments converted to AUD
• the system will calculate your tax liability based on your total income
• as an Australian resident, you can access the tax-free threshold of $18,200
• if your total income is below this threshold, you won't have a tax bill.

You'll need to keep records of your PayPal payments and the exchange rates used for conversion.

You can find more info about income you must declare on our website, including guidance on side hustles and how to report different types of income in your tax return.

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