Selling on eBay £1000 limit

plumb1_2

Hi, I am semi retired now only working 2 days week 
I have started selling on eBay at the start of November and already upto £840 in 16 sales
All items are plumbing related, old stock items I’ve had for years. (5-10) yrs 

I have about another 30 or 40 item, maybe value £3k 

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc 

The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

thanks for reading and hopefully making sense to you 

mta999

It is £1700 but this might help...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/selling/how-to-sell/selling-online-and-hmrc

RFW

plumb1_2 said:

Hi, I am semi retired now only working 2 days week 
I have started selling on eBay at the start of November and already upto £840 in 16 sales
All items are plumbing related, old stock items I’ve had for years. (5-10) yrs 

I have about another 30 or 40 item, maybe value £3k 

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc 

The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

thanks for reading and hopefully making sense to you 

You may need to ask HMRC or an accountant for advice here. Generally, if you're selling personal items then you don't need to do much tax-wise. What I can't tell from your opening post is if these are items from a business you have retired from or if they were items you had used yourself. Generally speaking, again, if the items are items you bought to resell the you would be liable for tax. That's why I think you may need to speak to someone better informed as I'm not sure where you fall in relation to taxes. Also, a canny accountant may advise you on tax matters that could help you, declaring tax isn't always bad for your finances!

vacheron

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

You would only pay tax (or use up your £1000 trading allowance) on items that HMRC defines as trading, not your own personal posessions, or used items that you are simply selling because you don't need them any more.

HMRC defines trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, I have have zero intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that did specifically purchase when an irresistable bargain came along (not related to my old profession) simply because I felt I could re-sell these for a bit of a profit.

I can identify exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and calculate the gain, however this is moot as should I ever find that these are getting close to my £1000 trading allowance, I would just pull all these auctions from sale until the next financial year. 👍 

MyRealNameToo

vacheron said:

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

HMRC defienes trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, we have have no intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that I expressly purcased at a bargain price because I knew I could flip them on eBay for a profit, but I can indicate exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and if I find that these are getting close to my £1000 allowance, I just pull all these auctions until the next financial year. 👍 

The fact you are calling some of them "old stock" would certainly question that, maybe its a poor choice of words but it sounds like they were bought to resell for a profit even if you are now reselling them for a loss. Presumably you also offset the purchase against tax so their liquidation should be declared for tax. 

vacheron

MyRealNameToo said:

vacheron said:

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

HMRC defienes trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, we have have no intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that I expressly purcased at a bargain price because I knew I could flip them on eBay for a profit, but I can indicate exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and if I find that these are getting close to my £1000 allowance, I just pull all these auctions until the next financial year. 👍 

The fact you are calling some of them "old stock" would certainly question that, maybe its a poor choice of words but it sounds like they were bought to resell for a profit even if you are now reselling them for a loss. Presumably you also offset the purchase against tax so their liquidation should be declared for tax. 

Yes, poor choice of words on my part really, I meant old stock in the context of "new old stock" to describe the condition of the items I am selling.

I didn't want to clutter my response with the specifics, and my situation is difficult to explain given the technical nature of the product, but it would be akin to someone who did tailoring as a hobby and who was asked to make bespoke suits for external company who provided all the measurements and consumables for the items he made for them, they also provided some specialist equipment specifically required to make their product, and he also bought some additional tools himself to aid in constructing these items and to progress the hobby side of his interest.

One day that company announces that it is closing and he is told he can dispose of any materials still in his posession, or feel free to use it if it was of any use to him.

About 10 years later he decides to leave the tailoring business altogether, and sells off everything he owns, including all his tools and material (some of which is the material left to him by his customer 10 years ago) at well below its curent market / replacement value as the intention is to clear space, not to make any profit.


Edit: Just noticed this bit:

Presumably you also offset the purchase against tax so their liquidation should be declared for tax. 

In my case no, because these items were not originaly my items as they were purchased by the other company. All remaining equipment and materials were purchased by me as part of my hobby using my after tax income and never offset against anything.

plumb1_2

vacheron said:

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

You would only pay tax (or use up your £1000 trading allowance) on items that HMRC defines as trading, not your own personal posessions, or used items that you are simply selling because you don't need them any more.

HMRC defines trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, I have have zero intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that did specifically purchase when an irresistable bargain came along (not related to my old profession) simply because I felt I could re-sell these for a bit of a profit.

I can identify exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and calculate the gain, however this is moot as should I ever find that these are getting close to my £1000 trading allowance, I would just pull all these auctions from sale until the next financial year. 👍 

Yes that about mirrors my situation, I bought items about 5-7 yrs ago to use in my business. Not to buy and sell as a profit 
Mainly central heating spares, but not been in the heating trade for over 5 yrs, 
I am averaging selling them about 50% lower than today’s cost, but most probably getting back what I paid for them.
I no longer have receipts/ proof of purchase for them as it’s a long time ago.
Maybe technically I was buying to make a profit, but only in the respect charging customers for the items
ie if a item was £80 trade price to buy from a merchant and I bought it for £45 from a online selling platform, then it would have been a extra £35 profit.. still only charging the customer £80 trade price to.

so I have ended up with many items not used, as there so many spare parts required. 
it just a matter of having a big clear out, some stuff been in my garage for 20 yrs, quite a few are obsolete items, and go for silly money imo 
I’ve even got pink and avocado toilet seats 😂

Maybe I should ask an accountant 

MyRealNameToo

plumb1_2 said:

vacheron said:

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

You would only pay tax (or use up your £1000 trading allowance) on items that HMRC defines as trading, not your own personal posessions, or used items that you are simply selling because you don't need them any more.

HMRC defines trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, I have have zero intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that did specifically purchase when an irresistable bargain came along (not related to my old profession) simply because I felt I could re-sell these for a bit of a profit.

I can identify exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and calculate the gain, however this is moot as should I ever find that these are getting close to my £1000 trading allowance, I would just pull all these auctions from sale until the next financial year. 👍 

Yes that about mirrors my situation, I bought items about 5-7 yrs ago to use in my business. Not to buy and sell as a profit 
Mainly central heating spares, but not been in the heating trade for over 5 yrs, 
I am averaging selling them about 50% lower than today’s cost, but most probably getting back what I paid for them.
I no longer have receipts/ proof of purchase for them as it’s a long time ago.
Maybe technically I was buying to make a profit, but only in the respect charging customers for the items
ie if a item was £80 trade price to buy from a merchant and I bought it for £45 from a online selling platform, then it would have been a extra £35 profit.. still only charging the customer £80 trade price to.

so I have ended up with many items not used, as there so many spare parts required. 
it just a matter of having a big clear out, some stuff been in my garage for 20 yrs, quite a few are obsolete items, and go for silly money imo 
I’ve even got pink and avocado toilet seats 😂

Maybe I should ask an accountant 

And when you bought them you were doing cash accounting so deducted them as expenses from your revenue to reduce your profits? 

I'd struggle to see how you can not think it's still trading if the answer to the above is yes. The full price of the sale less eBay fees would be the profit as the original cost of purchase has already been claimed. 

plumb1_2

MyRealNameToo said:

plumb1_2 said:

vacheron said:

I'm in a very similar situation and have been slowly selling old items from my career (engineering) which I am not going to use again. Some things are used, and some things are old stock and unused, due to their niche applications, many have been listed for sale for literally years. However, like fishing with 200 hooks, as long as I pull up a fish or two each month, the rest can sit in the water forever as far as I am concerned!

I’ve read that eBay inform Hmrc of any sales over the £1000 limit or 30 items per year.
Is that limit April to April or any 12 month period?

From what I have seen, eBay report the sales in a calendar year (Jan-Dec) but if HMRC did showed any interest, they would be doing their calculations using the financial year (April-March), so a bit of a mis-alignment there.

What would happen if I keep selling would I have to start paying tax on sales? And prove what I paid for them( no chance of that I am afraid. Ie profit and loss etc  The problem I have also is that I don’t have any receipts for items I bought several years ago

You would only pay tax (or use up your £1000 trading allowance) on items that HMRC defines as trading, not your own personal posessions, or used items that you are simply selling because you don't need them any more.

HMRC defines trading as:

• Selling goods you bought to resell for a profit.
• Selling items you made, even from a hobby.
• Providing services for a fee, such as babysitting, gardening, tutoring, or freelance work. 

In my case (and yours from the sound of it) I am selling the items to clear space, once these are sold, I have have zero intention of buying any more.

In my case, as I didn't buy these items with the intention to resell, they are also listed way below the cost of the same (or modern equivalent) item new from the manufacturer, and also way below the price I would have to pay to replace them should I actually require such an item in the future. Personally, I feel that this would easily prove that this activity is not trading by anyone's (including HMRC's own) definition.

That said I do have some items for sale that did specifically purchase when an irresistable bargain came along (not related to my old profession) simply because I felt I could re-sell these for a bit of a profit.

I can identify exactly which items these are, provide receipts, and calculate the gain, however this is moot as should I ever find that these are getting close to my £1000 trading allowance, I would just pull all these auctions from sale until the next financial year. 👍 

Yes that about mirrors my situation, I bought items about 5-7 yrs ago to use in my business. Not to buy and sell as a profit 
Mainly central heating spares, but not been in the heating trade for over 5 yrs, 
I am averaging selling them about 50% lower than today’s cost, but most probably getting back what I paid for them.
I no longer have receipts/ proof of purchase for them as it’s a long time ago.
Maybe technically I was buying to make a profit, but only in the respect charging customers for the items
ie if a item was £80 trade price to buy from a merchant and I bought it for £45 from a online selling platform, then it would have been a extra £35 profit.. still only charging the customer £80 trade price to.

so I have ended up with many items not used, as there so many spare parts required. 
it just a matter of having a big clear out, some stuff been in my garage for 20 yrs, quite a few are obsolete items, and go for silly money imo 
I’ve even got pink and avocado toilet seats 😂

Maybe I should ask an accountant 

And when you bought them you were doing cash accounting so deducted them as expenses from your revenue to reduce your profits? 

I'd struggle to see how you can not think it's still trading if the answer to the above is yes. The full price of the sale less eBay fees would be the profit as the original cost of purchase has already been claimed. 

No I never claimed for the items, or deducted them as an expense to reduce my tax. 

I still have an accountant,in fact my books etc are with them now, as I still work 1 or 2 short days doing maintenance. Mainly to get me out of the house and helps with my mental health. Fiance wise I don’t need the money with having my pensions.

my main reason for posting was that this board would have a better understanding of how selling on eBay works rules/regs etc, than a average accountant would.

MyRealNameToo

All thats changed with eBay is that they are now required to report sales for accounts that hit a certain volume. The actual laws on what constitutes trading, when it has to be declared on self assessment etc hasn't changed at all. So basically HMRC simply have a new data source to try and identify people who are trading and failing to declare it or declare it fully. 

FFHillbilly

ever considered just selling it slowly and keeping under the limit?