What do we make of this?

soolin

Krakkkers said:

So if you only buy and sell on ebay will HMRC note the difference between total sales and total purchase price and tax you on that?
This will be the first year that I have gone over £1000 so I am baffled by this.

All has been explained in my earlier posts including my low tech approach to book keeping. Basicslly though No, HMRC don’t do your accounts for you, they expect you to provide them. 

Krakkkers

soolin said:

Krakkkers said:

So if you only buy and sell on ebay will HMRC note the difference between total sales and total purchase price and tax you on that?
This will be the first year that I have gone over £1000 so I am baffled by this.

All has been explained in my earlier posts including my low tech approach to book keeping. Basicslly though No, HMRC don’t do your accounts for you, they expect you to provide them. 

So i have been a PAYE employee all my life which is why this is so daunting for me.
As i said earlier a lot of my buying is from car boot and jumble sales for cash which means i have no proof of what i paid, will HMRC accept that?
Your low tech method sounds reasonable and something i might be able to do, is it really as simple income vs outgoings? or do you have to itemize everything?
By your method how long does it take to fill out a self assessment form?
I know these must seem like basic questions but its so new to me and i just want to buy and fix watches and i might make £1000 a year profit or not.
A lot (most) of the watches i buy end up as scrap and thrown away so how do i deal with that.
This all seems crazy when i am making so little.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Krakkkers said:

A lot (most) of the watches i buy end up as scrap and thrown away so how do i deal with that.

Instead of throwing them away auction 1.5kg worth at a time on eBay for a 1p start + postage, chances are someone will buy them, then you don't have any commercial waste to deal with and record of where they went. 

Krakkkers

Just tried to register for self assessment and its says i need a UTR and a business account?

soolin

Krakkkers said:

soolin said:

Krakkkers said:

So if you only buy and sell on ebay will HMRC note the difference between total sales and total purchase price and tax you on that?
This will be the first year that I have gone over £1000 so I am baffled by this.

All has been explained in my earlier posts including my low tech approach to book keeping. Basicslly though No, HMRC don’t do your accounts for you, they expect you to provide them. 

So i have been a PAYE employee all my life which is why this is so daunting for me.
As i said earlier a lot of my buying is from car boot and jumble sales for cash which means i have no proof of what i paid, will HMRC accept that?
Your low tech method sounds reasonable and something i might be able to do, is it really as simple income vs outgoings? or do you have to itemize everything?
By your method how long does it take to fill out a self assessment form?
I know these must seem like basic questions but its so new to me and i just want to buy and fix watches and i might make £1000 a year profit or not.
A lot (most) of the watches i buy end up as scrap and thrown away so how do i deal with that.
This all seems crazy when i am making so little.

My books are itemised which helps with my poor memory as well - so if I buy say on Facebook marketplace I'll enter FB - date- widget - price, simple as that. 

Incidentally it isn't £1000 profit it is £1000 total income , so if you sell £700 of watches and charge £301 of postage then you have exceeded the reportable level, even if your accounts show that you spent £300 on watches, £300 on postage and £100 on packing materials and parts. I'm happy to explain it further if you like, but I'm aware my method of book keeping is archaic as that's how I was trained decades ago.

soolin

Krakkkers said:

Just tried to register for self assessment and its says i need a UTR and a business account?

If you register with HMRC they will give you a UTR which you'll need to identify yourself. 

Krakkkers

Do i then need a Business tax account on government gateway as well as my personal one and do i need a business bank account or can i use my regular account?

soolin

Krakkkers said:

Do i then need a Business tax account on government gateway as well as my personal one and do i need a business bank account or can i use my regular account?

Firstly this is a better explanation of the cash accounting basis that I mentioned.

Cash basis: Overview - GOV.UK

Technically you need a business bank account and a business account on ebay, realistically a lot of banks will give you a lot of leeway if you are a very small seller , I don't think I would be breaking nay MSE rules to suggest that you carry on as you are now and see if the bank mentions it. It does all depend though on whether you are paying in money daily, or if it's just smaller random amounts .

As a sole trader you complete a single personal tax return, it shows all your income, PAYE, pensions, taxable benefits etc plus your sole trader profit. If you do it online the tax calculation is done automatically . 

forgotmyname

You may not care about records and figures now but you need to keep crossing your fingers that you don't come up on the HMRC's next
whack-a-mole.

Neighbour bred guinea pigs and never declared anything, they were presented with a £27,000 bill.  No idea where they got that figure
from but they never kept any receipts or records so making it harder to dispute.

Krakkkers

I applied last night for self assessment.
My sales and purchases on ebay are obviously recorded the watch related stuff from amazon, batteries, tools, microscope etc.
It's just my jumble sale, car boot sale and mileage records that I will just have to write down and submit.
Bearing in mind I doubt that I would make much more than £1500 a year profit so i hope they will leave me alone.