Senator O'Brien asked the Minister representing the Treasurer, upon notice, on 2 March 1999:

(1) Based on Australian Taxation Office data what was: (a) The turnover of the training sector of the thoroughbred horse racing industry in the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 financial years; (b) The turnover of the training sector of the standard bred horse racing industry in the 1995-96, 1996-97 and 1997-98 financial years; and (c) The average income of trainers in the thoroughbred and standard bred horse racing industry in the above financial years.

Senator Kemp (Assistant Treasurer) —The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1) (a) and (b) The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) uses a modified version of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) system to allocate to industry groups with non-salary and wages income. The ANZSIC code for training of thoroughbreds is the same as the ANZSIC code for standard bred horses. The information sought for the 1997-98 income year is not available.

The turnover of the various entities coded to horse training is shown in the table below:

* For individuals, partnerships and trusts, total business income from non-primary production has been used, and for companies, sales of goods and services.

(1) (c) Entities engaged in horse training may have other sources of income other than from their training activities. The table below only refers to income from training activities.

For each of the various entity types the average income amounts for cases which have positive amounts of income and negative amounts are shown separately in the table below together with the overall amount. The positive cases for individuals and companies are those which have net tax assessed greater than zero i.e. they are taxable. The negative cases are where the net tax assessed is zero and they are therefore non-taxable. For partnerships and trusts the positive cases are those which have net Australian income of zero or greater, and the negative cases are where that income is less than zero.

1 Taxable income shown

2 Net Australian income shown