Online sellers offered chance to settle tax bills

ballisticbrian

I believe the increases have all now been announced and are in force

No - it's not in force until the 30th of April, and the impact is going to be huge.

ballisticbrian

That is not however postage or packing, it is just part and parcel for
selling.

Profit is just part and parcel of selling. Trying to dissect the sellers costs whether they are called "postage" or "item cost" is meaningless. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

soolin

ballisticbrian wrote: »

No - it's not in force until the 30th of April, and the impact is going to be huge.

Caps on ebay increased last week

*Note: Effective from 11 April 2012, the maximum P&P costs are as specified below, and are subject to change.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/maximumPP_FAQ.html#maxcosts

ballisticbrian

Sorry, I'm talking about the prices you pay for postage at the end of the month. Obviously if you list an item now, you could end up sending it at the higher rates at the Post Office.

dangerousuk2

This has me rather concerned.
I have been an ebay member since 2000 and have a feedback score of 450+
When I moved into my first flat in 2008 I sold allot of stuff I no longer needed or had space for. Prob about 250 items over the course of the following 2 years
I'm thinking I need to contact HMRC and volunteer this info!

soolin

dangerousuk2 wrote: »

This has me rather concerned.
I have been an ebay member since 2000 and have a feedback score of 450+
When I moved into my first flat in 2008 I sold allot of stuff I no longer needed or had space for. Prob about 250 items over the course of the following 2 years
I'm thinking I need to contact HMRC and volunteer this info!

If it was your own stuff and not stuff bought to resell then there is no need.

dangerousuk2

I called the disclosure number today and spoke to a very helpful lady.
Went over my situation and she told me I had nothing to worry about.
As long as a letter doesn't pop through my door in a few months then thats fine

HMRC_representative

HMRC is holding a second live Twitter chat on 16 May between 7 and 8pm to give online traders a further opportunity to ask questions. Follow @HMRCgovuk and tag questions #emqa in advance or on the day.

Online traders who haven’t paid all the tax they owe have about one month to register for the e-Markets Disclosure Facility, to tell HMRC they want to take part and get their tax affairs in order, simply and on the best possible terms.

Once the e-Markets Disclosure Facility expires, HMRC will clamp down on those who have failed to declare their earnings and pay the tax they owe.

How do I know if I’m trading? People who are unsure whether their e-marketplace activity could be seen as trading can visit the website site for further information: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/emarket.htm and watch a YouTube video for advice.

Those who only sell a few items and who are not traders are unlikely to be liable to pay tax on what they sell, and will not be targeted by this campaign.

What do I have to do?

Online traders must register with HMRC to “notify” that they plan to make a voluntary tax disclosure by 14 June.

They then have until 14 September to tell HMRC about tax due and make arrangements to pay any tax interest and penalties owed. This is called “making a disclosure”.

How do they do this? * By completing a notification form at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/notify.htm

* Phone HMRC on 0845 601 2944. A dedicated team is available to give information.

The benefit of the campaign is that those who make a full disclosure:

* Will be offered a simple and straightforward way to put their tax affairs right

* May not be charged a penalty at all, with most receiving a penalty of no more than 10 per cent of tax owed.

Your feedback

We’re keen to have your questions and feedback on the campaign. We will read responses posted in this thread; however, we cannot promise to reply to every post.

Kam HMRC Press Office

chemical.galaxy

Article in the Daily Mail about this today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143972/Cracking-internet-sales-HMRC-hunt-Ebays-biggest-tax-dodgers.html

According to the article 'the focus would be the sites’ 32,500 biggest traders'

That seems quite a low number.

I am registered as a business, and 90% of my competition comes from private individuals - they are all small time and there are so many of them! I just can't see this making any difference unfortunately, at least not in my line of sales.

RFW

chemical.galaxy wrote: »

According to the article 'the focus would be the sites’ 32,500 biggest traders'

That seems quite a low number.

Perhaps they only had enough for 32,500 stamps. Maybe with their first £300 they'll send a few more out;)