Sell on eBay, Etsy? Firms will now report your earnings to HMRC - Why is the UK doing this?

Rocketeer

RFW said:

Rocketeer said:

As my question says - Why has the UK signed up to this? I've been told the USA who is also a member of the OECD has not signed up to it and don't need to do any reporting to their tax authority or has somebody been telling me duff information. If they have, please can you show me an article saying they and every other OECD member has signed up to it.

I can't find out if the US already do this, have never done this or somewhere in between. I'd also be interested.

It does appear to be voluntary but looks like there are brownie points for signing up to it. As a much larger economy I wouldn't be surprised if the US didn't really care to sign up.

The US tax system is different and possibly more complicated, especially with online selling. Each state has its own tax laws and they vary quite widely across the US, though there are federal taxes. As a mere mortal, albeit with a tiny bit of experience of selling in the US, I could never get my head round the US tax system.

I believe Australia hasn't signed up either - hence my question as to why have the UK signed up while other OECD members have not. As you say - it appears to be entirely voluntary and someone once said "never volunteer for anything" lol

RFW

Rocketeer said:

I believe Australia hasn't signed up either - hence my question as to why have the UK signed up while other OECD members have not. As you say - it appears to be entirely voluntary and someone once said "never volunteer for anything" lol

At a guess we probably don't have much to lose and may gain something. 

Australia probably don't want to upset the Chinese.

Emmia

Rocketeer said:

RFW said:

Rocketeer said:

As my question says - Why has the UK signed up to this? I've been told the USA who is also a member of the OECD has not signed up to it and don't need to do any reporting to their tax authority or has somebody been telling me duff information. If they have, please can you show me an article saying they and every other OECD member has signed up to it.

I can't find out if the US already do this, have never done this or somewhere in between. I'd also be interested.

It does appear to be voluntary but looks like there are brownie points for signing up to it. As a much larger economy I wouldn't be surprised if the US didn't really care to sign up.

The US tax system is different and possibly more complicated, especially with online selling. Each state has its own tax laws and they vary quite widely across the US, though there are federal taxes. As a mere mortal, albeit with a tiny bit of experience of selling in the US, I could never get my head round the US tax system.

I believe Australia hasn't signed up either - hence my question as to why have the UK signed up while other OECD members have not. As you say - it appears to be entirely voluntary and someone once said "never volunteer for anything" lol

Perhaps HMRC wish to crack down on a group of people who they believe aren't paying the tax they should? This is a way to do that.

soolin

Emmia said:

Rocketeer said:

RFW said:

Rocketeer said:

As my question says - Why has the UK signed up to this? I've been told the USA who is also a member of the OECD has not signed up to it and don't need to do any reporting to their tax authority or has somebody been telling me duff information. If they have, please can you show me an article saying they and every other OECD member has signed up to it.

I can't find out if the US already do this, have never done this or somewhere in between. I'd also be interested.

It does appear to be voluntary but looks like there are brownie points for signing up to it. As a much larger economy I wouldn't be surprised if the US didn't really care to sign up.

The US tax system is different and possibly more complicated, especially with online selling. Each state has its own tax laws and they vary quite widely across the US, though there are federal taxes. As a mere mortal, albeit with a tiny bit of experience of selling in the US, I could never get my head round the US tax system.

I believe Australia hasn't signed up either - hence my question as to why have the UK signed up while other OECD members have not. As you say - it appears to be entirely voluntary and someone once said "never volunteer for anything" lol

Perhaps HMRC wish to crack down on a group of people who they believe aren't paying the tax they should? This is a way to do that.

I agree, it seems a simple way of catching out certain sellers. I’ll go back to my Body shop story, Body shop consultants (the MLM type party scheme) sellers selling openly on eBay and all as private sellers. I haven’t checked, but I suspect if you search others like Avon or whatever there are professional sellers there as well.

In some of the categories I use for my business sales I am up against mega sellers, 2500+ listings, pictures of their bricks and mortar shops, or sometimes an address of a shop and yet private sellers. Many may be reporting g to HMRC but I’ve noticed a fair percentage cheating buyers out of their rights by saying no returns. HMRC will suddenly be handed their information on a plate and if ebay collect NI numbers as stated in one of my earlier posts it can be linked to their tax records in seconds.