What records should I keep of my online casino activity in case I ever need to discuss taxes with an accountant?

Gambling winnings in Canada are generally not taxable for recreational players — but "generally" is doing some heavy lifting in that sentence. The CRA's position, laid out in its Income Tax Folio, is nuanced, and if your activity ever looks organized or professional, the picture changes. Good records protect you either way.

Why the CRA distinction matters for Ottawa players

An amount received as a windfall is not subject to tax. For most recreational casino players, winnings fall squarely into that category. There are exceptional cases where gambling activities have been held taxable — but these relate to taxpayers who applied inside information, knowledge, and skill to their activities. The factors the CRA looks at include the degree of organization present, the existence of special knowledge or inside information, the taxpayer's intention to gamble for pleasure versus profit, and the extent of gambling activities including the number and frequency of bets.

If you play occasionally for fun on a registered Ontario platform, you're almost certainly a recreational player. But if your volume is high, your approach is systematic, or you play skill-heavy games like poker seriously, the line gets blurrier — and that's exactly when having clean records becomes valuable.

What to actually save

The CRA's own audit guidance for gambling cases tells you what reviewers look for. Specifically: the type and frequency of gaming or betting; minimum, maximum, and average gaming loss or bet; source of funds used to place wagers; frequency of wins versus losses; and minimum, maximum, and average gaming win. Build your records around those categories.

For Ottawa players using regulated Ontario online casinos, this is more practical than it sounds. Online betting and gambling require the use of a credit card or e-commerce account where wagers are withdrawn and winnings are deposited, which means a transaction trail already exists — you just need to capture it. Here's what to keep:

• Account transaction history — Download session summaries or transaction logs from each operator's account portal regularly. Most registered Ontario sites let you export these. Don't rely on the operator keeping them indefinitely.
• Bank and payment records — Keep statements showing every deposit to and withdrawal from your casino account. These corroborate your own records and show the source of funds.
• Session-level notes — A simple spreadsheet works: date, platform, game type, amount deposited, amount withdrawn, net result. It doesn't need to be elaborate.
• Screenshots of large wins or unusual sessions — If a single session produces a significant payout, save a screenshot of the balance before and after.
• Proof you played on a registered Ontario platform — This is easy: regulated sites display both the iGaming Ontario logo and the BetGuard logo. A screenshot of the site footer confirming those logos, combined with your account registration email, establishes that you were playing in the legal, regulated market — not offshore.

How long to keep everything

You are generally required to keep your records for a minimum of six years from the end of the last tax year to which they relate. That's the CRA's standard retention rule. Even if you're confident your winnings are non-taxable, six years is the right benchmark — because if a question ever arises about your finances, gambling activity can come up as part of a broader review, not just a targeted audit of winnings.

Taxpayers keeping electronic records must also retain source documents — items such as bank statements, credit card receipts, and deposit slips. PDFs saved to cloud storage work fine; the point is that they're accessible and not dependent on a third-party platform staying online.

What to tell your accountant

Walk in with a clear picture of: total deposited across the year, total withdrawn, net result, and the platforms used. If you played on multiple sites, break it down by operator. Your accountant will want to assess whether the activity looks recreational or systematic — the records you've kept will answer that question quickly and cleanly.

One thing worth flagging: if your gambling activity is genuinely recreational and your records show that clearly, there may be nothing to report. But if you've had a high-volume year or play in a way that could look organized, get professional advice before filing — the distinction between a windfall and business income is a legal and factual question, not one to guess at.

If at any point gambling feels less like entertainment and more like something you need to manage, ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) is there — and the BetGuard self-exclusion service at betguard.ca lets anyone 19+ in Ontario pause access to all registered operators in one step.