A scalable audio data arithmetic decoding method, medium, and apparatus, and a method, medium, and apparatus truncating an audio data bitstream. The arithmetic decoding method of decoding a scalable arithmetic coded symbol may include arithmetic decoding of a symbol by using the symbol and a probability value for the symbol desired to be decoded, and determining whether or not to continue decoding by checking an ambiguity indicating whether or not decoding of the symbol to be decoded is completed. According to a method, medium, and apparatus of the present invention, data to which scalability is applied when arithmetic coding is performed in MPEG-4 scalable lossless audio coding can be efficiently decoded. Even when a bitstream is truncated, a decoding termination point can be known such that additional decoding of the truncated part can be performed.