Letter from HMRC - online sales - anyone else lucky to get?
Discussion
So this just dropped through the letterbox..
Checked my eBay account, in the last tax year I sold £7k (before fees/postage), either personal items or collectible items from my collection.
What a ball ache to sort out id imagine?
Anyone else lucky enough to receive this letter. From a Google search looks like it’s a new initiative for them
Checked my eBay account, in the last tax year I sold £7k (before fees/postage), either personal items or collectible items from my collection.
What a ball ache to sort out id imagine?
Anyone else lucky enough to receive this letter. From a Google search looks like it’s a new initiative for them
K87 said:
The hmrc notes on this matter say that if you regularly sell goods including personal items then you could be liable to tax and be treated as a trader, if you earn more than £1000 before expenses then you need to declare it.
I would expect that this is not the end of it and once you are taxed and treated as a trader you may be asked to pay a deposit based on next years anticipated tax liability.
The rules don’t really make any sense imho.. say you are moving house and sell a number of items of furniture, it’s quite easy to get above £1k in sales, so you are then expected to pay tax on those sales? I would expect that this is not the end of it and once you are taxed and treated as a trader you may be asked to pay a deposit based on next years anticipated tax liability.
I’m going to give them a call on Monday and try and clarify what I actually need to declare or not..
Grumps. said:
This has been going on for many years but I suspect they are now looking a little more carefully and catching people out as they need all the money they can get.
Maybe they could spend some of that time investigating the money fraudulently paid for furlough and the billions wasted on unfit PPE? Unfortunately for the OP (and other ebay sellers) is it's no doubt very easy to get ebay/other online market places to do most of the leg work for them, then HMRC just send out a bulk letter drop knowing that maybe 50% or more will pay it voluntarily. Much easier than investigating money which has already moved abroad or hidden in complicated company structures.
As per others in this thread though, I would have thought if you're selling your own items there would be no tax to pay unless you've made a profit and it is over the CGT allowance. There can't be any income tax (you've already paid that on the money earnt to buy the thing in the first place), and if you're selling at less than what you paid there is no profit to be taxed under capital gains.
Edited by Condi on Saturday 4th February 13:34
Condi said:
Surely only if you have made a "gain" though? I expect most people selling their own possessions on ebay would be more likely to make a loss.
Sure 
No idea why the £6K reporting rule is £6K now unless they're working on next years allowance.
I'm just highlighting that Capital Gains Tax isn't a new thing and more people are going to get sucked into it with the new allowances.
Condi said:
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: Yes.
Capital Gains Tax isn't a new thing.
Surely only if you have made a "gain" though? I expect most people selling their own possessions on ebay would be more likely to make a loss. Capital Gains Tax isn't a new thing.
Evoluzione said:
How have they found out? I'm guessing it all went through your bank account and they got to know via that somehow.
So many people on here whine on about cash, this is one good example of why cash is king.
So many people on here whine on about cash, this is one good example of why cash is king.
OP said:
Checked my eBay account, in the last tax year I sold £7k (before fees/postage), either personal items or collectible items from my collection.
It's probably come about as a result of Ebay - perhaps they notify HMRC?TonyRPH said:
Evoluzione said:
How have they found out? I'm guessing it all went through your bank account and they got to know via that somehow.
So many people on here whine on about cash, this is one good example of why cash is king.
So many people on here whine on about cash, this is one good example of why cash is king.
OP said:
Checked my eBay account, in the last tax year I sold £7k (before fees/postage), either personal items or collectible items from my collection.
It's probably come about as a result of Ebay - perhaps they notify HMRC?I seem to remember there was an Ebay and PP memo about a change in their rules about money laundering and tax evasion many years ago.
But also in recent years I remember HMRC saying there was a change and they would have access to your bank accounts.
I wouldn't put money on either, I don't have a great memory.
Spare tyre said:
So for example, my friend buys a boat at end of season for 10k , tinkers with it, then enjoys it for a season or 3 and sells it in a few years time for 9, 10 or 11k, he’s liable for tax?
Mechanical possession CGT exempt?https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax-personal-poss...
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