earning on the side, when is it taxable?

Cook_County

Before it was edited the OP said that s/he has been buying and selling items on ebay for 3 - 4 years and not taken any drawings because the profit has stayed in a PayPal account.

Based on these facts and assuming that trading resulted in a profit there is income tax payable, plus potentially Class 2 and Class 4 NIC, interest, surcharges and penalties.

The OP may want to take paid professional advice on negotation with HMRC to get to the lowest settlement amount that HMRC would be prepared to offer.

tomjonesrules

HappyMJ wrote: »

Wine making is a hobby. He does not need a licence.

He certainly needs insurance though!

Cook_County

tomjonesrules wrote: »

He certainly needs insurance though!

According to his other posts he is also a self-employed builder - so hopefully has insurance already.

heathcote123

HappyMJ wrote: »

Profit from hobbies is not taxable yet the profit from a business venture is taxable. When does a hobby become a business? I would say when you are no longer investing the profit back into the hobby. My friend makes wine as a hobby. He makes a bit of profit but the entire profit is ploughed back by buying better equipment. If it were on accounts it would all be valid expenses anyway but eventually he will have all the equipment he needs and he will be making real profit. At that point he should be declaring the profit and paying tax on it.

If you take a cash profit then pay tax on it. If you spend the profit on the hobby then don't worry too much about it.

You can sell home made alcohol legally?

I'd be amazed if there isn't a million laws about that!

soolin

heathcote123 wrote: »

You can sell home made alcohol legally?

I'd be amazed if there isn't a million laws about that!

There is and you can't.

I love the idea though that if you claim something is just a hobby then it isn't taxable. I love antiques and sci fi stuff and have large private collections that I rotate , I also buy to sell- so maybe I should tell the tax man that I have been mistaken all these years and my business is actually only a hobby that I make some money with.

techspec

I knew a couple on income support etc AND disability/DLA including the car.

Yet they made and sold wine for a "hobby".
Grew and sold veg for an "hobby" (allotment was size of 2 tennis courts)
He did a paper-round "not a proper job"
She sold avon "not a proper job"

I heard someone had grassed them up a year ago - but nothing seemed to happen, although he started college - so maybe he was found fit for work after 8 hours a day digging up veg.