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rictus123

Has anyone on here got experience of stuff like this cyberbob? Do i need to registar if im not even going to rake in 3k?

JohnnieStar

No bids/watchers yet! Not been able to sort out anything else as DS hasnt been very well. Got loads of his old clothes to sell too.

xxx

soolin

rictus123 wrote: »

How do i go about this? Should i not see how the first lot of stuff goes first? And just curious but how do HMRC find out?

Friends and relatives mainly. Despite people being all happy and pleased they get jealous, maybe you are managing to clear debts better than they are so one day they phone the anonymous tip off line and report you. HMRC also have bots that trawl ebay for businesses, but even they admit relatives and friends are a much better source of info.

I also dealt with two reported people via a work place that I volunteer in, one of those people knew exactly who turned her in.

There is quite a bit of info on the ebay board, but basically you just upgrade your ebay aco!!!! which is simply done and then phone HMRC to register yourself.

soolin

rictus123 wrote: »

Has anyone on here got experience of stuff like this cyberbob? Do i need to registar if im not even going to rake in 3k?

At 3k they would definitely be on to you, most people attempting to get away with it tend to be in the low hundreds.

In the past year I have seen 3 people get caught, it wasn't nice and although none of them got into really serious 'criminal record' type trouble it wasn't pleasant and they had a lot of money to find very quickly plus a lot of explaining to do.

mrscmr

but if im selling my own bits and bobs... is that taxable?

soolin

mrscmr wrote: »

but if im selling my own bits and bobs... is that taxable?

No that is absolutely fine.

In fact I have seperate ebay accounts the business ones which are all declared and taxed and the private one where I sell mainly stuff that my DSs no longer want and on which I pay no tax.

The only thing to be careful of is selling lots and lots of clothes especially if they are in lots of different sizes. One of the thriving areas on ebay is second hand clothes from certain 'good' shops like moonsoon. Sellers buy them up at car boot sales or charity shops and sell them on and because of that HMRC tend to get a bit wary of second hand clothes sellers.I usually advise my sellers to keep lots of photos of their wardrobes with the doors open, that way if they ever get the horrid letter from HMRC they can provide photos taken over the years to show that they are indeed a hoarder and they are not running a business.

rictus123

soolin wrote: »

At 3k they would definitely be on to you, most people attempting to get away with it tend to be in the low hundreds.

In the past year I have seen 3 people get caught, it wasn't nice and although none of them got into really serious 'criminal record' type trouble it wasn't pleasant and they had a lot of money to find very quickly plus a lot of explaining to do.

What happens if there onto you? Just a letter asking you to declare it and pay your tax bill or face court etc? I think someone should advise everyone hoping to make £10k then?

smarties84

I am currently selling a broken laptop and wii games, so far all together £100 plus 2 days left

Dp's old car is going on tonight also.

mrscmr

now im a bit worried... cos i made over 8k since april 09 on selling our own stuff... should i ring up tax man and say... im doing this but its our own stuff?

soolin

rictus123 wrote: »

What happens if there onto you? Just a letter asking you to declare it and pay your tax bill or face court etc? I think someone should advise everyone hoping to make £10k then?

The usual thing is that you get a letter first, quite inoccent looking asking you to make sure you do a full return for the past year. If you don't respond to that or you ask them why as you are PAYE (or whatever) they will often then ask you to consider all your income, and in some cases even state 'online' sources of income.

Techincally failure to declare is quite nasty and can lead to jail term (remember lester Piggott?) but in reality all they want from you is the tax owing and a penalty, this can often be negotiated down (the penalty I mean) to a couple of hundred pounds. HMRC can go back 6 years and the usually raise a tax bill for the last one first with estimated tax of several thousand, that is to frighten you into doing proper accounts to get the declared income down. Once you start negotiating to reduce that tax bill they open past years and do the same.

One lady I am assisting at the moment was sent a 6k tax bill when she failed to respond to letter from HMRC with a note that she was accruing £100 a day interest and penalties until she paid it.

mrscmr wrote: »

now im a bit worried... cos i made over 8k since april 09 on selling our own stuff... should i ring up tax man and say... im doing this but its our own stuff?

If it is your stuff I wouldn't worry , if you do get contacted then just say it is your own stuff and the fact that it is all varied etc should be enough to convince them, especially if you have a number of children and turn over clothes that are obvious they are growing out of. If you house is cluttered (alas like mine) then a few photos taken at Christmas or family parties showing shelves of ornaments or book cases full of books should suffice.