Plans to tax us for selling on eBay. What do you think?

buy cheap, sell high= profit and yes should be taxed

I had an ebay shop a long time ago and declared the income to the tax man but then I am honest and never had any reason to hide behind the door

I'm not condoning tax evasion, but this seems like an easy target. Going after people selling the odd secondhand item (rather than those running businesses doing so) while there are multimillionaires sitting back and laughing while they count the profits from their tax 'avoidance' schemes.

They will not be going after people selling the odd second hand item. They will seek out people who are trading. There are many such on eBay. Genuine tax avoidance is not illegal MissInterpreted. Tax evasion is.

Sell through Facebook instead? Lots of other ways apart from the rather over priced eBay.

That will be monitored too.

nanna8

Sell through Facebook instead? Lots of other ways apart from the rather over priced eBay.

Unless you are dealing in exclusively cash it will be recorded on your bank, credit card, PayPal or any other payment system.

Germanshepherdsmum

They will not be going after people selling the odd second hand item. They will seek out people who are trading. There are many such on eBay. Genuine tax avoidance is not illegal MissInterpreted. Tax evasion is.

Yes, I do understand the distinction, and as I say, I'm certainly not condoning tax evasion.

OldFrill

Good that Airbnb are having to comply.

I do agree, there was a house that was used solely as an Airbnb behind our last home and the weekends were hellish with noise.
There's a world of difference between letting your home out from time to time and buying a property solely to use as an Airbnb.

I'm a bit puzzled by the Ebay reports, if you're selling something you normally only pay tax on the profit you make and many on Ebay only sell their own old possessions. Surely they wouldn't be taxed on the whole amount?

Sorry, see my last post is very similar to others. But it would be difficult to work out the profit on many items unless they were bought specifically to sell.

The Guardian seems to have all the vital information. The two critical points are:

"Everyone has a trading allowance each tax year, which means they can earn up to £1,000 without paying tax."
and
"HMRC says people selling off clothes or items that they originally bought at a higher price will not be liable for tax on that income."

www.theguardian.com/money/2024/jan/01/selling-goods-online-be-warned-hmrc-will-soon-know-about-it

there has been NO CHANGE in the law on who should pay tax and how much they should pay. what HMRC are doing is making sure that people who trade via places like vinted and ebay pay the tax that they should.

Some items, Art, Jewelry, Antiques would be liable, classic cars and other things that normally depreciate aren’t liable

cc

Sorry, see my last post is very similar to others. But it would be difficult to work out the profit on many items unless they were bought specifically to sell.

That is exactly what HMRC want to target - people who buy items specifically to sell on. They will not be taxed on their sales receipts directly, they will be required to fill in a tax return. If they were buying to sell on they will have to keep records of what they paid for them, including receipts, so that their profit is shown. It is the difference between 'Trading' and selling a few old possessions you no longer want. That's why they will only look at people selling a significant number of items every year. Most people having a bit of a clear out won't be in that category.

it is aimed at businesses trying to avoid tax and using ebay. Not aimed at the individual who sells very little

This is not a new tax. It is simply that HMRC will be looking a little closer at income.
Any earned income from a job or trade however small should be declared and assessed for tax.
You are not profiting when you have a clear out so there's no need to worry. If you buy junk and sell it on then you do need a tax return.

A friend of mine reported a 'back street breeder' of dogs to HMRC a few year's ago... despite reports to the council and RSPCA nothing was done - the condition of the dogs wasn't great at all.
As a number of litters yearly were being sold at very high prices, she went down that route and they did take action.

I don't know if this applies to the UK, but where I live there are people more-or-less running businesses buying and selling over e-bay and similar platforms, or on Facebook. I find it entirely in order that they should be taxed as any other business is, whether they are doing it part-time or full-time, as the tax evaluation is based on them having sold for more than a certain amount.

Those who sell under the amount are not going to be taxed, which ought to mean that those selling something out of necessity will still be able to do so.

If you regularly sell a small amount of stuff on Ebay then it can be to your advantage to do a self assessment return and claim for the multitude of business expenses you are allowed.

This would include all your Ebay and Paypal fees as well as the cost of postage, printing, computer equipment, phones, software, etc. Plus the actual cost of any parts of your home you use for work such as home office, storage etc. There are online articles which advise how to do this without incurring CGT (if you come to sell) or being liable for business rates.

As long as you use traditional accounting (rather than cash basis) any business loss for the Ebay sales can then be offset against other taxable income such as a pension or employed job.

Now that landlords pay tax on the income from a rental BEFORE outgoings, I would say this is not impossible.

They also have to pay tax on the rent whether or not it is paid. It is the entitlement to receive rent which is taxable.

I agree that people should pay tax on their earnings from ebay etc. We should all pay tax on our earnings wherever they come from, it's the law.

I mean if your earnings are above the personal allowance and you make more than £1000 per annum on eBay etc then that money has always officially been subject to tax.

biglouis - do you really think that people who are just selling a small number of items on Ebay or elsehere would understand the traditional accounting basis?

25057C0 Of course people can deduct their outgoings apart from mortgage interest (which is a separate calculation). Agents are supposed to deduct tax at source from the gross rents but I've never seen that happen to the landlords whose tax returns I prepare. If it does happen then any tax overpaid will be refunded.

This rule was brought in because landlords often did not declare their rental income. Back in the 70s when I was training, building societies were only required to declare details of accounts to HMRC if there was less than £1000 in the account. Villains used to hold several such accounts for their illgotten gains and no one knew about them. They bought low priced houses - again these transactions weren't declared . In fact compulsory registration wasn't brought into the whole of England and Wales until 1990.

I really don’t understand what the issue is? If you make over and above your tax free allowance in profits, surely you should pay the appropriate tax