Ebay Tax Question

RFW

Langerhan said:

That's fair! I suppose I just get a bit definitive after hearing so many people complain about spending hours on hold

My accountant's secretary left recently, her job had essentially become being on hold to HMRC most of the day.

DullGreyGuy

RFW said:

Langerhan said:

That's fair! I suppose I just get a bit definitive after hearing so many people complain about spending hours on hold

My accountant's secretary left recently, her job had essentially become being on hold to HMRC most of the day.

Really? Accountants have alternative numbers to call than Joe Public, can't say my accountant has never taken more than 30 minutes to come back saying they've spoken to HMRC and resolved an issue, even when its peak time like late January (when last year I accidentally paid my SAE to my VAT payee details. 

PocketWatchMan

RFW said:

Oasis1 said:

RFW said:

To clarify the bits about tax reporting, there are some new rules that mean that Ebay send details of sellers who sell over 30 items or the equivalent of 2000Euros in a year.

Assuming this is financial year, right? so 30 items from April - April?

It doesn't actually apply to me so I don't know for definite, someone else may clarify, I was led to believe it was a calendar year. The one thing I'd say that if you aren't a business it's not something you need to worry about, if you are a business then you should be declaring anyway so it's irrelevant.

'if you aren't a business it's not something you need to worry about' Correct in theory but not in practice. 

If someone from HMRC accuses you of trading with the intention of making a profit, then the burden of proof is totally on you. regardless of how long it takes you, and how much it costs you, you are required to prove that you are simply are not a trader or business. HMRC are required to prove exactly nothing. 

RFW

PocketWatchMan said:

If someone from HMRC accuses you of trading with the intention of making a profit, then the burden of proof is totally on you. regardless of how long it takes you, and how much it costs you, you are required to prove that you are simply are not a trader or business. HMRC are required to prove exactly nothing. 

In the OP's case here, with a seemingly larger private turnover, it may be so. The majority of private sellers haven't got a big turnover that HMRC would even look at. You've got to turn over relatively big numbers to be owing much in tax.
In the context of whether it was a calendar year or a financial year it still doesn't seem like something anyone would need to worry about.