@kath3735_wxmjn wrote:
What about those of us inbetweeners then?! I sell my extended family items as a 'hobby', i enjoy selling online and car booting and it is most definitely a hobby with me (certainly not in it for profit, i would be bankrupt by now!). I like it, the rest of them do not or simply do not have time with working or because they prefer doing other things. Works for us but as they are not my direct family (i have none, single, no children and i live on my own - small violins only please, my choice!) i am waiting with bated breath to see how the taxman fits it in to their scenario. I have never bought an item to sell on, far too much like hard work!
That is exactly why the "Nothing to hide, nothing to fear" advice is so wrong" IMO. Many private sellers will have singular reasons for selling on ebay that are unique to their circumstances and with HMRC having the ability to demand proof to back up any sellers claim that they are selling their own property, they could deem many of them to have been trading. Unless they can show receipts / photos or some other form of proof to show they are not liable for any tax.
My case, briefly. In 1986 the GLC, where I worked was abolished, redundancy loomed. Decided to move out of London. An interminable house sale chain, broken by a cash buyer provided they could have possession by a certain date. My beautiful Burr Walnut Deco furniture sold to a dealer😢. My Deco glass collection packed and stored in father's garage, where most of it stayed until I started sorting it and selling some of it on ebay in 2012. As sales fell I also started selling on ebid and sold on both until 2024.
Parents have passed away, their house was sold and I have no proof of when I bought most of what I've been selling, it came from 'junk' shops, jumble sales, boot fairs, collectors fairs etc mainly for cash. Some of it over 40 years ago. So to HMRC it looks like I've had enough "stock" to sell on-line for over a decade and for part of that time have been selling on 2 sites and have no proof that I've never bought anything to sell on, when / where I bought most items (apart from a few I bought on ebay/ebid/etsy).
With the govt. regularly finding fiscal Black Holes that it, just as regularly, needs to increase taxation to fill I can see that I could end up being billed by HMRC for supposed Trading although, like many others, I've never been a Trader or used my selling as a 'side-hustle'. Having had some experience of dealing with HMRC during my 20+ years of Self Employment, I can very easily see that they may well hit 'easy targets' first, to boost revenue quickly and 'expose' how widespread tax evasion is, justifying their actions.
