EBay wanting N.I Number

[mphJ]

Just wondering has anyone had the notification from eBay that you must give them your national insurance number otherwise they will put a hold on your payouts ?

Is everyone giving them theirs ?

I was always told not to give out your N.I number apart from to your place of work ?

Thanks

[Jakg]

mphJ said:

I was always told not to give out your N.I number apart from to your place of work ?

Or the DVLA. Or an any ISA provider...

[CraigyMc]

mphJ said:

Just wondering has anyone had the notification from eBay that you must give them your national insurance number otherwise they will put a hold on your payouts ?

Is everyone giving them theirs ?

I was always told not to give out your N.I number apart from to your place of work ?

Thanks

If you go over a certain amount in sales they have to start reporting to HMRC.

It's taxable income.

[Chipstick]

It's because you've hit either over 30 sales or sales exceeding £1740 in a calendar year.

eBay are required to report your sales to HMRC and your NI number identifies you.

If you don't provide it, you won't be able to continue to sell on eBay with that account.

[Countdown]

Not a new thing

Giving Ebay your NI number

Ebay new tax rules

[WPA]

I have done it and cannot see any issue with it

I did ask the question in this thread; https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Spare tyre]

In theory there’s no issue

However, I’d stop using eBay myself.

[K87]

Is there something as widespread and international as eBay that doesn't ask for your NI number?

[CraigyMc]

K87 said:

Is there something as widespread and international as eBay that doesn't ask for your NI number?

Gumtree is exempt as it doesn't facilitate payments.
Ebay, vinted, Airbnb, depop, Amazon marketplace are all required to share data with HMRC.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/information-for...

[GiantEnemyCrab]

I wonder if you got one digit wrong whether eBay would care or notice

[CraigyMc]

GiantEnemyCrab said:

I wonder if you got one digit wrong whether eBay would care or notice

I suppose there's one way to find out.

It looks from this like NI numbers don't have a checksum but there are some formatting rules and numbers to avoid.
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-...

Also, they call NI numbers "NINOs" which I find amusing.

[mphJ]

I wonder if eBay has dropped in members because of this

[Spare tyre]

mphJ said:

I wonder if eBay has dropped in members because of this

Without a doubt

It’s certainly not going to attract more users

Facebook market place seems to be the goto now.

[mphJ]

So at what amount of sales do you think they would start wanting tax from you ?

[StuntCock]

CraigyMc said:

If you go over a certain amount in sales they have to start reporting to HMRC.

It's taxable income.

Surely if you are selling off your own items for a loss that’s not taxable?

Say you bought a car for £10k and sold it a year later for £9k there is no tax due?

Or if you had amassed a collection of DIY tools over the years and sold them off individually as no longer needed, there’s no tax due?

[njw1]

StuntCock said:

Or if you had amassed a collection of DIY tools over the years and sold them off individually as no longer needed, there’s no tax due?

And you would have already paid the VAT on those tools if you bought them brand new.

[DSLiverpool]

Is a UTR number not an option?

[mphJ]

Has anyone heard from HMRC since submitting their NI number to eBay ?

[craigjm]

StuntCock said:

CraigyMc said:

If you go over a certain amount in sales they have to start reporting to HMRC.

It's taxable income.

Surely if you are selling off your own items for a loss that s not taxable?

Say you bought a car for £10k and sold it a year later for £9k there is no tax due?

Or if you had amassed a collection of DIY tools over the years and sold them off individually as no longer needed, there s no tax due?

No it’s not taxable. They are aiming at the traders on these sites that are running a business. You would have to be extremely unlikely to be chased if you were just selling off assets and you would have a defence

[mphJ]

At what point though do they determine if you’re selling off your own unwanted items vs selling items as a business ? Seems to be a bit of an unclear grey area

For example, if I’m selling 100 DVD’s individually , how do they determine whether that’s just my collection I’m selling off vs that I’m selling them off for a profit as part of a side business ?