HMRC targets Etsy, eBay, Amazon, Facebook & Gumtree sellers

printerinksucks

Yeah maybe they should spend more time going after the actual websites that allow us to "sell" for our hobbies.

They would certainly get much more from Ebay than the £9mil or so they got last time.

lovinituk

printerinksucks wrote: »

Yeah maybe they should spend more time going after the actual websites that allow us to "sell" for our hobbies.

They would certainly get much more from Ebay than the £9mil or so they got last time.

The thing is, the big corporations are acting within the tax laws laid out by the government. Individuals not declaring their earnings are acting illegally.

To get the big corps to pay more tax, the laws need to be changed. But then that risks them leaving the UK leading to less jobs and less input into the local economy.

harryfrombarry_2

campdave wrote: »

You're a wally.

You're really rude.

A number of cats.

martindow

harryfrombarry wrote: »

A number of cats.

What have cats to do with it?

soolin

martindow wrote: »

What have cats to do with it?

Is that the same person who accused me of having cats the other day? I assumed it was some sort of 'yoof' talk.

DawnW

I trade in a small way, and can't see a problem with registering as a business and paying any tax owed (though my income is small these days, so there is never very much). The self assessment process is not especially transparent imho, so I fill in the bits that are straightforward and my accountant does a yearly profit and loss account and does the fiddly bits / clarifies anything that isn't clear. I pay her a (very reasonable) fee, which is a valid tax deductable expense. I have found the HMRC office themselves to be helpful if you contact them with a query.

I can't see why some people seem to find this such a difficult concept :huh:

Truffj11

Agree 100% with you

motorguy

lovinituk wrote: »

The thing is, the big corporations are acting within the tax laws laid out by the government. Individuals not declaring their earnings are acting illegally.

To get the big corps to pay more tax, the laws need to be changed. But then that risks them leaving the UK leading to less jobs and less input into the local economy.

+1

Governments often "allow" big corps to pay little tax because of the otherwise positive effect they have on the local economy.

There is a big difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.

RFW

motorguy wrote: »

+1

Governments often "allow" big corps to pay little tax because of the otherwise positive effect they have on the local economy.

There is a big difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.

True. Amazon say they are going to be paying tax in each country now. They do have fulfillment centres in some poor areas and provide thousands of jobs and paying business rates to councils that would otherwise be getting nothing. That's not to mention the thousands of businesses that sell on there that pay taxes.
There's also VAT, national insurance and more that they contribute.
Ebay, on the other hand, don't offer quite as much.

motorguy

RFW wrote: »

True. Amazon say they are going to be paying tax in each country now. They do have fulfillment centres in some poor areas and provide thousands of jobs and paying business rates to councils that would otherwise be getting nothing. That's not to mention the thousands of businesses that sell on there that pay taxes.
There's also VAT, national insurance and more that they contribute.
Ebay, on the other hand, don't offer quite as much.

+1

And i dont think its going to be much of a defense to the tax man when hes micro accounting your ebay history to say "oh ebay dont pay much tax therefore dont hassle me"