This is not tax advice
We're a pet-sitting platform, not your accountant. The ATO's position on house sitting can depend on your specific circumstances. If you're sitting frequently, in any kind of structured way, or unsure whether your situation crosses the threshold from hobby to assessable activity, talk to a registered tax agent. The cost is usually under $200 and the certainty is worth it.
The Core Question: Is House Sitting Taxable Income?
House sitting on a non-monetary platform like Sitterly is fundamentally an exchange. You provide pet care and home oversight. You receive accommodation. No money moves between you and the homeowner. So is it income?
The honest answer is: it depends on volume and intent. The ATO doesn't have a specific 'house sitting' ruling, but it does have well-established positions on barter, in-kind benefits, and the line between hobby and business activities. Those positions apply here.
The Hobby vs Business Test
The ATO uses a multi-factor test to distinguish hobby activities (not assessable) from business activities (assessable). The factors most relevant to house sitters:
- Repetition and regularity: Sitting once or twice a year for friends, neighbours or via a platform is well within hobby territory. Sitting 30+ weeks a year through a platform begins to look more business-like.
- Profit motive: Are you sitting because you love animals and travel, or are you treating it as a deliberate accommodation-cost-replacement strategy?
- Organisation: Do you have a sitter profile, manage bookings, advertise yourself, keep records? Or is it ad hoc?
- Scale of accommodation value: A weekend sit worth ~$200 in saved rent is materially different from a 6-month consecutive arrangement worth $13,000+
There's no bright line. The more your house sitting looks like a structured, year-round, repeated activity primarily driven by accommodation savings, the more likely the ATO would consider it assessable. The more it looks like an occasional hobby or holiday-replacement activity, the less likely.
Practical Guidance by Sitting Volume
If you sit a few weeks per year
You're almost certainly in hobby territory. Most casual sitters fall here. No ABN needed, no income to declare from the sit itself, and the ATO is not going to be interested in a few weeks of free accommodation across a financial year.
If you sit a few months per year
You're in a grey area. If sitting is incidental to other paid work (you're a freelancer who house-sits between projects, say) it's still typically hobby-level. If sitting is a deliberate part of your annual financial strategy, replacing what would otherwise be rent, keep records and consider getting tax advice. An accountant can review your specific situation in 30–45 minutes.
If you sit half the year or more
Get advice. The accommodation value is meaningful, the repetition is regular, and depending on how the ATO views your circumstances, you may need to consider whether a portion of your benefit constitutes assessable income, whether an ABN is appropriate, and whether you have any GST obligations. The cost of an accountant's review is far smaller than the cost of getting this wrong.
GST is almost never relevant for individual house sitters
GST registration is required if your annual turnover exceeds $75,000. Even at year-round house sitting in expensive cities, the equivalent accommodation value rarely approaches this threshold for an individual. GST mostly applies to professional pet care businesses, not house sitters.
What About Reciprocal House Sitting?
If you and a homeowner agree to house sit each other's homes, say, you stay at theirs in summer and they stay at yours in winter, this is a barter arrangement and the ATO has specific rules. For most casual reciprocal arrangements between friends or low-volume swaps, this is still hobby-level. For structured swap arrangements run as a business, the rules get more complex.
Records You Should Keep (Just in Case)
- Dates of each sit, location, and duration
- Approximate value of accommodation provided (use comparable rental rates)
- Any related expenses you incurred (pet food you bought, fuel for handovers, etc.)
- Communication logs from the platform showing the arrangement
- Any payments that did change hands (e.g. agreed contributions to bills, paid extras)
Even if you never need this for a tax return, having clear records protects you in the event of any ATO query and helps you understand your own activity over time.
When You Definitely Need an Accountant
- You're sitting more than 6 months per year
- You're combining house sitting with paid pet-care services on the side
- You're a sole trader or contractor for whom every income source matters
- You have welfare payments, JobSeeker, or other government benefits with income tests
- You're a non-resident for tax purposes (e.g. on a working holiday visa)
- You're operating any kind of small business adjacent to sitting
Where Sitterly Stands
Sitterly does not provide tax advice and we don't track sitter income or accommodation values for tax purposes. We also don't issue tax statements, the platform is non-monetary, so there's nothing to report on a Sitterly-issued document. What you do with your tax obligations is between you, the ATO and your accountant.
For more on the savings side of house sitting, see our breakdown of realistic house-sitting savings in 2026.
This article provides general information only and should not be relied upon as tax advice. ATO positions can and do change. Talk to a registered tax agent about your specific situation. References to the ATO are to the Australian Taxation Office.
