Self assessment and eBay figures

Marky19

Hi there 

I’m starting to trade on eBay from April 2025 and have put things in place to track what I’ve purchased to sell and know about registering for self assessment and the £1000 trading limit

my question is when calculating sales which figure to I report to HMRC? 

Is it total sales from eBay ( which customer paid?) OR the actual amount that I got paid at the end minus any fees? 

Please help x

DullGreyGuy

Your revenue is the gross sales price, fees that eBay deduct, postage etc are allowable expenses so get added to the expense number, your tax will be calculated on the profit which is revenue less expenses

soolin

Marky19 said:

Hi there 

I’m starting to trade on eBay from April 2025 and have put things in place to track what I’ve purchased to sell and know about registering for self assessment and the £1000 trading limit

my question is when calculating sales which figure to I report to HMRC? 

Is it total sales from eBay ( which customer paid?) OR the actual amount that I got paid at the end minus any fees? 

Please help x

It depends on your accounting basis, the easiest way to do simple accounts is on a cash basis.

If you opt for cash basis and use an April year end it is simple, Calculate the gross amount received, that includes every thing you get including postage paid to you by the buyer. Then separately calculate all your expenses, so postage you paid , ebay fees (and remember ebay charge business sellers fees to list as well as FVfs), packaging materials, cost of stock etc. Then on your tax return you show the gross total on one line, the total expenses on another and HMRC show the net taxable figure. 

HMRC don't do your accounts for you, you need to do them or perhaps if unsure it might be worth approaching an accountant until you are happy to do it yourself.

Incidentally, I've only shown the cash basis above, if your business plans shows a likely large taxable figure, or you need to be capital equipment then you will need full accounts.

RFW

You should be able to find all the details within Ebay to download the information that will give all your sales in a spreadsheet. From what I've heard HMRC don't seem too bothered (so an accountant told me) if you just put your 'banked' money as revenue though you should be showing the gross income and then taking off the fees.

Rather than just relying on info here you can check out the HMRC website, it's quite detailed, and if you have any questions, let them know.

There are a few good online accounting packages that plug into Ebay. I've never used any so don't know how they work. I have used Anna.money for a few things and they do that. That would pull all the information for you and show you what's what. I'm nothing to do with them, but they do offer trials for not much so you could see how it works and then do it yourself.

Marky19

Thank you all

i I will be doing simple cash basis accounts and it would only be a small sole trader business with small profit making items! 

I have made up a spreadsheet to record total sales minus expenses and fees and bearing in mind a 20% reduction in profits for tax! 

I will be doing accounts myself and have been doing research trough HMRC and you tube! 

When I have traded the whole tax year April 25/26 am I right in thinking I then register for self assessment after April 2026 but before 5th October 26? Then submit by 31 jan 27! Just checking I’ve got this correct 

many thanks x

soolin

Just as a suggestion , assuming you haven’t used your trading allowance on any other business this tax year, why not set up your business account and start selling now to get a bit of momentum going without paying tax? As long as your gross takings before 5th April are less than £1000 you wouldn’t even need to declare it. It might give you a couple of weeks head start to figure out your pricing structure and to see if you can actually makes sales.  

Without being doom and gloom laden, if your business sales don’t take off quickly then as long as your gross income for the next tax year remains under £1000 you wouldn’t have to declare then either, and if you did exceed the £1000 then you can opt to use the trading allowance against the gross amount instead of preparing an expense sheet. 

Also, just re the selling, check to see if anyone else is already selling the same sort of things you want to sell, check the completed/sold prices to see if that fits in with your business plan. 

Marky19

Thank you! I have already sold a few items on eBay so have tried and tested and just wanted to upscale sales of more of 1000 and start a new tax year fresh

its also running alongside my part time job of which I’m paid PAYE! So I know this also has to be decalared in the self assessment when I submit it  

im confident that I will be above the threshold for tax over the comming tax year but just getting clear what I have to do leading up to that! 

Thank you all

i I will be doing simple cash basis accounts and it would only be a small sole trader business with small profit making items! 

I have made up a spreadsheet to record total sales minus expenses and fees and bearing in mind a 20% reduction in profits for tax! 

I will be doing accounts myself and have been doing research trough HMRC and you tube! 

When I have traded the whole tax year April 25/26 am I right in thinking I then register for self assessment after April 2026 but before 5th October 26? Then submit by 31 jan 27! Just checking I’ve got this correct 

many thanks x

Marky19 said:

Thank you all

i I will be doing simple cash basis accounts and it would only be a small sole trader business with small profit making items! 

I have made up a spreadsheet to record total sales minus expenses and fees and bearing in mind a 20% reduction in profits for tax! 

I will be doing accounts myself and have been doing research trough HMRC and you tube! 

When I have traded the whole tax year April 25/26 am I right in thinking I then register for self assessment after April 2026 but before 5th October 26? Then submit by 31 jan 27! Just checking I’ve got this correct 

many thanks x