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

This is not to catch out the ordinary person selling a few items they no longer need. This is to prevent tax and benefit fraud by people who are milking the system. If you are only an occasional seller you have nothing to fear.

Aha! But even so, you'd have to sell 500 dresses @ £2 to make £1000 profit - even if the dresses were acquired for free.

Vinted would report the seller, but any tax return would show no profit, so there wouldn't be any tax to pay.

growstuff

Welshy

Only sales over £1,700 OR more than 30 items a year are reported. Really?

Today I sold a dress for £2 on Vinted! I've sold more than 30 items in the 7 months I've been using it. But no way have I made anywhere near £1,700

So if I sold 30 x £2 dresses I would be reported?

Yes. However, the postage costs would probably exceed any money you received and you would be able to show that to HMRC, if you keep receipts.

The buyer pays the postage on Vinted.

Indeed we would Dinahmo. Compassion doesn’t come into it. These people are committing at least one criminal offence and effectively cheating the rest of us.

GSM you've echoed my thoughts. I was going to suggest shopping people to HMRC but didn't get around to it.

Nantotwo there are a lot of people who work two jobs in order to save money or maybe just to help with the cost if living. Invariably they will be paying on both incomes.If everybody did as your friends then we would be in a worse situation than now.

Doodledog

Witzend

I doubt that occasional sale of a possession that’s no longer needed - like me selling my old Hostess Trolley - is going to raise queries. For those who are doing it as a business, or a regular income-generating sideline, it’s a different matter.

Agreed.

My niece sells a lot of old clothes on eBay and Vinted, as she is young, fashionable and skint. She operates a 'one in, one out' policy, and when she buys a new item she sells the old one. She's not making a profit, but has quite a turnover. That's very different from someone importing tat from China and selling it on.

Another consideration is that some eBay sellers have thousands of sales, but don't register as a shop, which means that buyers don't have the same protections (eg the right to return items), which is unfair both to the buyers and to more honest brokers who do declare their business status.

All she needs to do is keep the receipts for any clothes she buys.

Doodledog

*Why don’t you report them to HMRC? It’s very easily done online and you can do it confidentially if you wish.*
Probably because she understands their doing all they can to get out of their situation, which is trying to bring their children up in a safe area?

I'm not in favour of tax evasion, but a bit of compassion goes a long way. Also, just as they don't rely on virtue signals for their information, the angels will still know about anonymous reports.

If these people are in low paid jobs they probably pay tax at 20%, which means they would keep 80% of this income. They may even be receiving benefits. I cannot condone tax evasion (and possibly benefit fraud) just because someone is saving up for a better home.

Witzend

I doubt that occasional sale of a possession that’s no longer needed - like me selling my old Hostess Trolley - is going to raise queries. For those who are doing it as a business, or a regular income-generating sideline, it’s a different matter.

Agreed.

My niece sells a lot of old clothes on eBay and Vinted, as she is young, fashionable and skint. She operates a 'one in, one out' policy, and when she buys a new item she sells the old one. She's not making a profit, but has quite a turnover. That's very different from someone importing tat from China and selling it on.

Another consideration is that some eBay sellers have thousands of sales, but don't register as a shop, which means that buyers don't have the same protections (eg the right to return items), which is unfair both to the buyers and to more honest brokers who do declare their business status.

I doubt that occasional sale of a possession that’s no longer needed - like me selling my old Hostess Trolley - is going to raise queries. For those who are doing it as a business, or a regular income-generating sideline, it’s a different matter.

I honestly don't understand the uproar around this.
We all know if we are shifting personal clutter or are selling for profit, surely.

Nothing has changed except now HMRC has a way to see it.
If people are (basically) operating on a business basis - buying and selling or taking commissions for example they should be taxed on that profit as they would be if it was a physical shop.

Why don’t you report them to HMRC? It’s very easily done online and you can do it confidentially if you wish.
Probably because she understands their doing all they can to get out of their situation, which is trying to bring their children up in a safe area?

I'm not in favour of tax evasion, but a bit of compassion goes a long way. Also, just as they don't rely on virtue signals for their information, the angels will still know about anonymous reports.

Nantotwo

I know someone who goes to car boot sales and on FB Marketplace to get items for a pittance then sells them on Vinted and ebay for a LOT more money. They aren't in high earning jobs although both work full time. They are saving to move to a safer area with their children but do actually make thousands a year doing this. They also sell on behalf of others and take a cut. Knowing how and where they live, I can understand them doing all they can do get out of their situation.

Why don’t you report them to HMRC? It’s very easily done online and you can do it confidentially if you wish.

Nannan2

If theyre your personal items why should you pay tax TWICE? We pay VAT when we buy things why are we paying again to declutter them?Bl**dy grabbing Government.Its same with the pensions- the pensioners have paid tax on their earnings- why should they pay again? Jeremy Hunt has a lot to answer for.

Tax isn't paid at source on personal pension contributions, which is why pensions are taxed. If a person only receives state pension, he/she isn't taxed.

A person selling personal items won't be taxed.

Nantotwo

I know someone who goes to car boot sales and on FB Marketplace to get items for a pittance then sells them on Vinted and ebay for a LOT more money. They aren't in high earning jobs although both work full time. They are saving to move to a safer area with their children but do actually make thousands a year doing this. They also sell on behalf of others and take a cut. Knowing how and where they live, I can understand them doing all they can do get out of their situation.

They're running a small business and should be taxed on it.

Welshy

Only sales over £1,700 OR more than 30 items a year are reported. Really?

Today I sold a dress for £2 on Vinted! I've sold more than 30 items in the 7 months I've been using it. But no way have I made anywhere near £1,700

So if I sold 30 x £2 dresses I would be reported?

Yes. However, the postage costs would probably exceed any money you received and you would be able to show that to HMRC, if you keep receipts.

I know someone who goes to car boot sales and on FB Marketplace to get items for a pittance then sells them on Vinted and ebay for a LOT more money. They aren't in high earning jobs although both work full time. They are saving to move to a safer area with their children but do actually make thousands a year doing this. They also sell on behalf of others and take a cut. Knowing how and where they live, I can understand them doing all they can do get out of their situation.

Only sales over £1,700 OR more than 30 items a year are reported. Really?

Today I sold a dress for £2 on Vinted! I've sold more than 30 items in the 7 months I've been using it. But no way have I made anywhere near £1,700

So if I sold 30 x £2 dresses I would be reported?

This government didn’t invent the current tax laws. You have a very short and selective memory and perhaps we’re not drawing your pension when Labour were in power. How long has Hunt been the Chancellor? Can you remember?

If theyre your personal items why should you pay tax TWICE? We pay VAT when we buy things why are we paying again to declutter them?Bl**dy grabbing Government.Its same with the pensions- the pensioners have paid tax on their earnings- why should they pay again? Jeremy Hunt has a lot to answer for.

HMRC only administertaxation as directed by the government. they do not make the rules. If you think something is unfair or wrong consult your MP

To clarify the taxation of rental businesses (and indeed most other businesses). The traditional method of accounting (the accruals basis) is to declare all income DUE in the accounting period, and to claim expenses INCURRED in the same period. That means if a tenant defaults the expected income is still taxable in that period, and (for example) claims for, say, heat and light, are apportioned to the period in which they are consumed (not when you get the quarterly bill but when you use the gas and electricity). If a tenant defaults the unpaid amount can be deducted from income in the period in which it becomes clear that it is not going to be received - for example, having taken the usual steps to recover it (including court action) and basically having no chance of ever getting it. An alternative is to use the "cash basis" which means if a tenant defaults you don't include that in your calculation of earnings for that period, but nor can you deduct a portion of any unpaid gas/electric bill either even if the power was used during the period.

Since online selling sites began I have heard of scores of people bragging about how much money they have made by effectively running businesses in this way. The first I heard of was a retired couple in a relatively smart town in middle England, the wife having a disability and claiming every state benefit possible (mostly non-taxable), making tens of thousands of pounds a year by buying imported toilet rolls by the lorry load and selling them to small independent shops for resale to the public. They declared nothing to either HMRC or to the benefits people so were basically screwing the country in a big way. You and I (who pay our taxes and don't claim benefits to which we are not entitled) have been paying for these people for years. Believe me, it amounts to a lot of millions that could be channelled into making our NHS what it should be, what it used to be, without the Tories claiming the country can't afford it or the Labour lot (hopefully I suppose winning this years General Election) putting up OUR taxes so they can appear to be the good guys.

I have spent a lifetime both in my profession as an Accountant and as a volunteer in local charities hearing of such travesties (and believe me some folks are PROUD of themselves for screwing the system) - and now I am in dire need of the NHS I am beginning to wish I had reported them all at the time.

But to all of you who are worried about selling your old clothes, a few bits of furniture, an unwanted exercise bike (mine is going on ebay this week!) or similar, you have nothing to fear. You won't be making a profit, you won't be doing similar 30 times a year, and if you are unfortunate enough to be questioned on it by HMRC (and a few will be, by mistake), just explain your transactions and it will be fine.

And if you do find (and sell) a Constable in the attic, you can make a Capital Gain of £6,000 a year without paying tax (and if you can show it was acquired by both you and your spouse that is doubled). I had a friend who, many years ago, recently deserted by her husband and left with two young kids and short of dosh, bought a ring from a charity shop for £5 and sold it for £15,000. It is so long ago that I can't remember what claim I helped her make that meant she paid no tax on the gain. I have some sympathy for the desperately hard-up making a bit of money, so my scruples aren't perfect!!

I think this reform is long overdue.

This is from Martin Lewis
Pls share.
Many are worried after reports that Etsy, eBay, Vinted etc will start automatically passing sales info on to HM Revenue. To set your mind at rest, in brief

1. There is no new tax
2. Unless you're 'trading' selling your old stuff isn't taxed
3. Only sales over c£1,700 or more than 30 items a year are reported

Yet far better is read our full guide which takes you through it

lemsip

this is only if you make more than a £1000

Crackdown on second-hand clothes side-hustle: Customers making more than £1,000 in sales on Vinted, Etsy, Depop and eBay could be landed with huge tax bill in new HMRC clampdown

The Martin Lewis article says that sites will only send information to HMRC of people who sell more than 30 items a year. How many people sell more than 30 items of second-hand clothes a year, unless they've bought them to sell - in which case they're conducting a business?

I don't think that they will be clamping down on people selling a few excess personal possessions - however many people are running small businesses using ebay or Vinted etc these days in the same way as second hand shops used to and should be paying taxes.

Also - and I am sure that the UK will catch up with this - some countries not only tax as income but selling on these sites also counts as income for benefits.

this is only if you make more than a £1000

Crackdown on second-hand clothes side-hustle: Customers making more than £1,000 in sales on Vinted, Etsy, Depop and eBay could be landed with huge tax bill in new HMRC clampdown