Ebay HMRC Rules?

MoodyMand45

Been selling some old used video games and DVDs on eBay to declutter.

I got a message to hand over my NI number having reached 30 sales so in order to continue I did. They claim my personal details and bank account used to withdraw will be sent to HMRC.

My total turnover for the year is only £117:96 including all the postage charges from offering free p+p.

I wondered if anyone knows exactly how these new rules actually work for example is the £1000 limit the total you can make selling new items or used, also if no tax applies to used items do HMRC scroll through your account checking your stuff is all used.

I have five unopened printer cartridges I wanted to sell as my printer has recently broke down but I'm worried about being accused of running a shop if I try to sell these as they are still new.

sammyjammy

You are over thinking it, especially given the amount of sales you have. I have sold over £1000 worth since January, its all one off products mostly and all unused. They weren't purchased to sell on but I'm a bit of an impulsive purchaser of health and beauty products. I have no concerns about HMRC.

Spoonie_Turtle

At that kind of level I really wouldn't worry at all. It's just an administrative default, you hit one threshold so they have to pass on your details but whatever method HMRC use to follow up, they will not be interested in you at all.

This doesn't apply to you, it's just answering your question about the £1000 threshold: this is the trading allowance, so people who are trading - selling things they've bought or made to (re)sell - can simply write off £1000 as expenses each tax year if they don't want to do proper accounts (or if their expenses are lower than that), which is why anyone with gross receipts under that (from trading) doesn't have to tell HMRC. Above that and profit becomes potentially taxable.

[That isn't a new rule, the trading allowance has been in place for a while, just the reporting requirements for online platforms are new in order to help catch undeclared businesses.]

But that's all irrelevant to people selling off their own unwanted possessions because they're not trading, and there's no income tax to pay on what they receive no matter how much they sell things for.

TimeLord1

Are you claiming any income-related benefits? If so, you could end up with a review to supply bank statements. What HMRC does is if they don't see anything, they pass the bank details and earnings over to DWP through the portal, who will check against any information they have, NI information, and banking details. If not, I wouldn't worry, but eBay won't submit any information until January 2027, so it could be a long time to process. But you may as well carry on selling because you're way under the capital threshold.

Link below 👇

Digital Sales Regulations

Spender£

My partners brother works for HMRC, He reckons any accounts making under a grand are thrown aside in favour of the the bigger hitters because they simply don't have the staff or time to waste looking in detail at these, according to him they have some sort of AI system that does this with so many to go through these days.

With this logic I doubt they will even look!

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82090721#Comment_82090721

I think he refers to the £1000 trading allowance under which business sellers whose turnover is less than £1000 do not have to even register with HMRC. This was bought in a few years back and you’ll find it discussed on several threads throughout MSE.

LITRG

Hi OP. You may find our guidance on digital platform reporting rules helpful. Here we explain that if someone is selling their own personal possessions online, these amounts are unlikely to be taxable. The position is different if someone is buying good specifically to sell on, in which case, they may be seen to be trading. We have a handy flowchart that can be used as a guide.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/working/gig-economy/digital-platform-reporting-rules

I hope this is useful.