Ebay asking for my Nat Ins Number

[lights-camera-actionuk]

I have had a e mail for E Bay asking for my national Insurance number so i can contiunue to sell on e bay

 I am a registered business and have been for over 20 years

 I am VAT registered and have been for over 15 years with my VAT number oin my  e bay account

I pay an accountant to do my accounts of my sales on ebay  every 3 month and now this 

I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT GIVING MY NAT INSURANCE NUMBER TO E BAY, and there is no mention of it being safe   wit E Bay   im furious

[shopping-ferret]

That is not actually what I am asking.  I am fully aware of the new regulations.  What I am asking is, how are Ebay going about doing their part in this?  OK, to make my query clearer, there are 2 things. 

One is Ebay asking for NI numbers for all sellers who meet the criteria. 

The other is about instructing those private sellers who sell over a certain amount to convert to business accounts. 

So I have received an email asking for my NI number.  BUT, why are there so many high volume private sellers who are still trading?  Why hasn't Ebay contacted them?  Why are they prioritising contacting a long established business seller who already reports their business to HMRC?  They should be concentrating on all the fake private sellers first!!  That is my gripe.

Hence I asked does anyone understand the logic Ebay use when selecting who to contact, since they seem to have some kind of system as have not reached out to everyone in one swoop, which I don't get why they don't appear to have the ability to do!!

[papso22]

The timing of asking for NI numbers is unknown apart from the fact that they needed to get them from all sellers that started selling last year, last year, and are now asking for them from established sellers.  It doesn't matter what account type they have. 

As for the private/business issue, they are asking for the NINO from both types and I believe that is not connected to any action they may (or are not) taking in respect of businesses trading on private accounts. 

I don't think the two are linked, but who really knows with ebay?

[shopping-ferret]

I would be interested to know how many here have had the NI number request. 

I agree that the 2 things are not connected.   It just annoys the heck out of me that so many fake private sellers are carrying on as normal - fee free and likely tax evading.  They need to all be forced to convert, leave or be booted out.  Why are Ebay so slow rolling this out?  Seem to be dragging their heels...

[the_book_seekers]

I had mine this week.

We're getting in touch to let you know about the UK digital sales reporting law. This law requires marketplaces like eBay to collect and report seller information if you meet one of these thresholds: 30 or more sales, or sales exceeding £1740 in a calendar year.

Since you've reached this threshold, please update your account by providing your National Insurance number.

There's a bit more blurb, but at this stage nothing about the consequences of failing to handover a NI.

[papso22]

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@shopping-ferret wrote:

I would be interested to know how many here have had the NI number request. 

I agree that the 2 things are not connected.   It just annoys the heck out of me that so many fake private sellers are carrying on as normal - fee free and likely tax evading.  They need to all be forced to convert, leave or be booted out.  Why are Ebay so slow rolling this out?  Seem to be dragging their heels...

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There are quite a few reports over the last weeks of people being asked so maybe it has started in earnest now.

I absolutely agree with you about the fake private sellers, I have said before that they are either ignorant or arrogant, but neither is a valid excuse.  The problem is that unless ebay themselves are held legally responsible (in the same way they are for business that should be VAT registered), it's all just talk.

[shopping-ferret]

In my Active listings, it says this at the top:

Add your tax information to your account to get compliant with UK digital sales reporting legislation, and to avoid upcoming restrictions. 

[papso22]

Someone reported their payments were withheld until they provided the NINO.

[itsystemsdirect]

I’ve just had the request to add the national insurance number to the eBay account

Although my account is an established business account it’s actually registered in my partners name,  does anyone have a similar issue?

My plan is to add her national insurance number to avoid any account restriction.  If HMRC get in contact asking for a self assessment from her I’ll just have to make them aware that everything is declared under my name name and the account is effectively for the house hold / business

[shopping-ferret]

I wanted to hold out for a while until the end of March.  I wonder how long Ebay give you before restrictions and do you get a final warning?

[krafty-kreations]

Had to add mine today also 

[the_book_seekers]

That is a bit of a pickle and this is a public forum. If ebay picks up on the above without you talking to them it could end with your account closed.

[itsystemsdirect]

There’s nothing to hide, it’s a family business but the eBay account  has to be in someone’s name and it’s hers

[jckl1957]

You are correct - Ebay has to report sales to HMRC of all sellers who sold more than 30 items or items to the value of about £1700 January to December last year.

However, @shopping-ferret has got a valid point and it is clear that an awful lot of sellers who meet those criteria have NOT been asked for their NI number.

I was asked for mine last week but checking, I can see that Ebay have not yet created or sent a digital sales report for me.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/mes/transaction-reports?q=tax

[its-a-small-world]

Within 10 mins of registering my account as a business account on ebay i started receiving nuisance phone calls, sales calls and attempted fraud , im afraid i dont trust sharing any further details with platform so like many this will be the end .

[shopping-ferret]

I am afraid it goes with the territory.  By law you have to display your contact details if you wish to trade.  It is a nuisance but I just got used to sending the emails to the junk folder.  Phone calls were not such a problem in my experience.  It seemed to go through phases.  But my details could have been obtained from different sources.

[dch2112011]

I guess you are registered as a sole trader, if so you are legally (UK digital sales reporting (UK DSR) required to provide this information.

It makes HMRC's job tracking your sales activities across the internet amongst other things - this should not be a worry for you as you are declaring your earnings correctly

[papso22]

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@itsystemsdirect wrote:

There’s nothing to hide, it’s a family business but the eBay account  has to be in someone’s name and it’s hers

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The issue seems to be that your 'family business' is not compatible with your ebay account registration whch i assume is as a sole trader.

Ebay see it as your wife's business, which may not match the tax declarations you are presumably making.

What legal entity is registered for VAT?  

[houseoftheyuccas]

But Ebay require you to have your name, address and phone number on your listings if you are a business seller so that information is visible to everyone--and you still sell on here despite the lack of privacy.

[dch2112011]

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@itsystemsdirect wrote:

There’s nothing to hide, it’s a family business but the eBay account  has to be in someone’s name and it’s hers

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That's not strictly correct, if it is a family business where you have set it up correctly as a simple partnership, where you only have to provide the partnership UTR number or as a limited company where you only need to provide the company registration number  you will not be asked for your wife's national insurance number.

In reality as others have said your wife has declared she is a sole trader where she is responsible for the sales activity on ebay and as such she has to provide her nat ins number  - you cannot simply decide that ebay are wrong when your wife is declaring that she is the sole person responsible for her business.

You could change the legal entity to a simple partnership where each family member involved in the business is allocated a percentage of the business - the nominated partner then has to submit a partnership return and each member partner has to submit their own self assesment return which includes the percentage of profits from the partnership - then you will only have to submit a partnership UTR.

It.s not difficult to understand, talk to your accountant if it bothers you

[rosiemac333]

They’re picking the low hanging fruit. Leaving the fruit, where the real money lies under wraps.