my MAD e-bay challenge

MinniMe_2

Not too bad a weekend- sold 3 items yesterday - £5.23 to add to my total not much but it all helps.

Had a clear out at the weekend and now have a box of stuff to ebay but I go on holiday next week so can't really put them up (incase there are any questions I wont have access to answer them!)

away to update my total

soolin

RosaThorne wrote: »

I know you have to register if you're making a certain amount (£4K?), but if you're doing it on a small scale it should be ok. eg, if I find a few things in a bootsale I'll resell them online, but I wouldn't buy wholesale goods - As long as you can define yourself as a private seller you should be ok.

NO, it is best to be very clear about the requirements to register. If you buy just one thing to resell you are trading, there is no lower limits or exclusions. However, even if you do register you might not have to pay any tax if your yearly profit is less than your remaining personal allowances, but it still must be declared. There is no such things in HMRC regulations about private sellers. Ebay use a system where people are asked to define whether they are private or business sellers but if you read their explanation carefully you will see that it echoes the HMRC requirements and states that anyone selling anything at all in whatever quantities that they purchased to resell is a business.

There is some more info about the requirement to register on the ebay board on the helpful hints sticky thread.

It is also worth remembering that nearly all the people caught cheating HMRC are reported by people they know, or even through websites like this. There are a lot of jealous people out there whose fingers will itch to report a seller anonymously having overheard a boast about making money on ebay by knowing what to buy. There are even buyers who when they have problems with a seller will automatically report that seller to HMRC in case they are not registered.

too_much_debt

I am registered with HMRC for Tax Purposes, registered in Feb 2006 and have done 2 Tax Returns so far and have never had to pay any tax as once the Ebay fees and Paypal fees, packaging fees etc are taken off my income is less than you need to earn to have to pay tax, but am glad that I am declaring it all as didn't fancy a knock on the door one day from the Tax Man and a huge fine.

I do buy from Wholesalers, I love selling on Ebay and it's the only 'job' I can do as we now have 3 children under 4 and my bf works shift work during the week and 2 weekends a month so it's not possible for me to go out and get a job so I fit Ebay in around the children when they are at Nursery and Playgroup and in the evenings.

RosaThorne

When I was declaring my business no longer trading I did ask about the regulations concerning a few items here and there. I was told not to bother registering if it was just a few low cost items. If I wanted to buy wholesale I'd register and wouldn't have a problem with it, but buying one item from a bootsale?

IWantToBeFree_2

I think it all comes down to the badges of trade which broadly are:

- The subject matter of the realisation;
- The length of the period of ownership;
- The frequency or number of similar transactions by the same person;
- Supplementary work on or in connection with the property realised;
- The circumstances that were responsible for the realisation; and
- Motive.

If you buy one item, and then sell it on, you wouldn't be deemed as trading as there would be no frequency to the transactions so one transaction would be a capital transaction and for stuff that is sold on ebay, it would be exempt from any capital taxes as it would be a chattle.

soolin

Unfortunately HMRC have no lower limit under which they don't mind you not registering, one sale equals a trader. Obviously if you are going to try and get away with it the less sales you make the less likely you are to be caught, but do not mistake that for HMRC agreement.

There is nothing in the HMRC regulations about frequency of transactions, capital sales are an entirely different matter and must not be confused with trading.

This gets discussed a lot on the ebay board and on the helpful hints sticky thread there are links to the HMRC requirements as well as advice about how to register and the time frames allowed.

IWantToBeFree_2

If you make a one off transaction though, the likelyhood is that you are not trading, there is a whole host of case law around the subject of whether you are trading or not.... as a tax consultant, I come across this stuff every day of the week.

The badges of trade is something that HMRC do consider, if you look it up on their website you will see...

oopalah

Hi all, Added another £13 to my total today. I've gathered together a few more things to list (amazing where it all comes from - I never realised I had quite so much junk!!)
Now I've just got to stop prevaricating and start listing.

MinniMe_2

Morning all, not much but another £2 to add to total today, wont have much more for a while as off on holiday next week - will list loads when i get back!

IWantToBeFree_2

I'm looking through my box of stuff tonight to see if there is anything there thats worth relisting.... Still got a bit of stuff I wanna sell but don't wanna keep wasting money on listing fees only for them to get no bids.