Gambling professionally and student finance

When I leave uni I am considering carrying on betting, but doing it professionally. It's how I've funded the majority of my time at uni. I know I don't have to pay tax on my winnings so am I right in thinking I won't have to pay back my student loan?

Yes you wouldn't have to pay it back because gambling isn't a fixed income.

I'm afraid that's not right. I'm self-employed so that I can do odd bits of contract work to boost my funds during my PhD. My very variable earnings have to be declared and if I earn over the SF repaymen threshold (never likely in my case!) then I will have to make SF repayments. You don't need a fixed income to be eligible to repay - you just have to be earning over the threshold in any form.

A friend of mine is a professional poker player. His understanding is that recreational winnings are tax free. However if you're gambling professionally i.e. You rely on the money to pay bills, then it's treated as professional income, has to be declared and is taxable. This being the case, it follows that gambling income used to pay for the basics in life will be subject to the SF repayment threshold and terms.

Essentially, whilst at uni, gambling winnings are recreational. As a sole source of income after uni, they're professional earnings, both taxable and reported to SF when declared.