Email From Ebay Asking If Private Or Business Seller

soolin

Ebenezer_Scrooge wrote: »

If i register as a business seller, what diffrence will this make ie tax, extra fees?

.

Yes it can make a difference, but it is nothing to do with tax. If you trade you should be declaring yourself to the tax man, regardless of anything ebay does.

However once you are a business seller on ebay *and* you achieve a certain level of sales you will pay less fees than a standard seller. There is a very long thread about the changes being made which you might want to read, but basically final value fees have gone up considerably across the board but will be reduced for those who fulfil certain requirements, one of which is to be registered as a business seller. The smaller sellers will therefore be paying more to ebay and will no longer be able to be as competitive as the larger competition.

Agent_Cooper

lisyloo wrote: »

It's still not a grey area.



The quote above is quite clear.

If you sister is stuff and then deciding she doesn't want it that's fine.
I have bought DVDs before, watched them and then re-sold then 2nd hand afterward. That was for personal use.

However if you think that she can buy hundred of items per day and then suddenly decide that she doesn't want them then I don't think that would wash with the Inland Revenue.

The OP didn't say anything about buying hundreds of items per day. What I am saying is if you buy a couple of items per week and decide to sell them on, this now makes you a Business Seller in Ebay's World, but in the real world, you are just trying to make a few extra quid for yourself and your family.

soolin

Agent_Cooper wrote: »

The OP didn't say anything about buying hundreds of items per day. What I am saying is if you buy a couple of items per week and decide to sell them on, this now makes you a Business Seller in Ebay's World, but in the real world, you are just trying to make a few extra quid for yourself and your family.

I really don't think you are understanding the legal requirements here. Forget ebay, whether or not you are registered as a business or private seller is immaterial , you pay tax if you buy to sell. There is no grey area no legal way of avoiding it.

The excuse of just earning a few bob is, I'm sure one the courts have heard plenty of times before. There is no bar to when you need to declare yourself and you can sell one item and the requirement to register with HMRC would be there.

Don't forget as well that if a person has no other income then their full allowances are still available to offset any profit, and so whilst they were complying with the law and submitting two line accounts (that's all the tax man needs) they would still not pay any tax.

Ebay can be a source of income, just as say working behind a bar, or doing a cleaning job. Why should ebay income be treated any differently to any other form of income.

Ebenezer_Scrooge_2

I get your point soolin, ebay is covering itself by giving you the choice.
I suppose the tax man is only going to look into the high earning ebay accounts anyway, lets hope hes not intrested in chasing small fry

soolin

Ebenezer_Scrooge wrote: »

I get your point soolin, ebay is covering itself by giving you the choice.
I suppose the tax man is only going to look into the high earning ebay accounts anyway, lets hope hes not intrested in chasing small fry

Well anecdotal evidence from other forums (should the plural be fora??) show no logical pattern with who gets caught and who does not. It has often been suggested that HMRC rely more on word of mouth reports than on official notification. If people know you dabble a bit on ebay they only need to get jealous one day and phone the tip off line (or do it online, someone helpfully posted the direct link on here a while ago) and bobs your uncle. Talk about it at the school gates, maybe mention paying for a few days at Haven from your ebay money..and you'll be knocked down in the stampede to report you.

People are strange creatures, all smiles and pleasantries and then jealousy sets in and you get reported.

Just look at all the pulled auctions on ebay, there is a new thread today about someone whose auction was pulled. All those are reported by other users, nothing is done directly by ebay themselves to police the site. If seeing a minor disgression in an auction is enough to get you reported to ebay, imagine what those other users can do with your full contact details. Every one we sell to, everyone time we mention on here what we do and maybe leave a trail back to our user id we are open to being reported. HMRC don't have to do anything, jealousy will get it all done for them.

Agent_Cooper

soolin wrote: »

I really don't think you are understanding the legal requirements here. Forget ebay, whether or not you are registered as a business or private seller is immaterial , you pay tax if you buy to sell. There is no grey area no legal way of avoiding it.

The excuse of just earning a few bob is, I'm sure one the courts have heard plenty of times before. There is no bar to when you need to declare yourself and you can sell one item and the requirement to register with HMRC would be there.

Don't forget as well that if a person has no other income then their full allowances are still available to offset any profit, and so whilst they were complying with the law and submitting two line accounts (that's all the tax man needs) they would still not pay any tax.

Ebay can be a source of income, just as say working behind a bar, or doing a cleaning job. Why should ebay income be treated any differently to any other form of income.

Technically, you are absolutely right. I was just making a wider point of whether it it morally right to classify someone who resells a few items on Ebay each week as a Business Seller. Yes, if you are buying large quantities of items with the specific intent of reselling them for profit, them yes, fair enough, register as a business Seller with Ebay and the Inland Revenue. But, if its only a few items each week, then I really don't think you should be forced to.

Time2Go_25

Agent_Cooper wrote: »

Technically, you are absolutely right. I was just making a wider point of whether it it morally right to classify someone who resells a few items on Ebay each week as a Business Seller. Yes, if you are buying large quantities of items with the specific intent of reselling them for profit, them yes, fair enough, register as a business Seller with Ebay and the Inland Revenue. But, if its only a few items each week, then I really don't think you should be forced to.

Technicalities and morals do not enter into it, neither does the amount you buy and sell. If you buy 1 item with the purpose of selling it (profit doesn't enter into it either) you are a business and need to register with the tax office.

I'm sure the inland revenue look through Ebay from time to time to see if there are people worth invectigating and if you are you wont get far saying "But it was only a few items"

RFW

Ebay are trying to make a clear distinction between private and business sellers. They are also giving an incentive to register as a business by offering reduced final value fees for business sellers.

As regards what is what it is fairly straightforward;

Find something lying around your house you don't want = Private seller.

Buy something to sell on for a profit = Business seller.

For clarity contact HMRC or an accountant. If you are a business seller register with HMRC, its a lot less hassle than having them freeze all your bank accounts, stop benefits and go through all your papers, this is not a scare story, it has happened.

IMO the new changes have got something to do with HMRC, so if you get one of the emails mentioned by OP make sure you are well informed as to what you should be doing.

angel

I sometimes buy make-up sets on QVC when they have really good offers on. This week for instance I kept three items and sold two on ebay which has covered the QVC postage and the cost of one of the items that I kept. What category does this fall into?

Agent_Cooper

angel wrote: »

I sometimes buy make-up sets on QVC when they have really good offers on. This week for instance I kept three items and sold two on ebay which has covered the QVC postage and the cost of one of the items that I kept. What category does this fall into?

According To Ebay and the Inland Revenue (and some of the fine upstanding members of the community on these boards) you are now officially a Business Seller.
Welcome to the Club!;)