EBay asking for national insurance number

[raik1performance]

Hi everyone, I recently joined for like 1 month and I start selling as a private seller , and now eBay is asking me to provide national insurance number.

"New UK digital sales reporting legislation requires sellers with 30 or more sales, or who have sales exceeding £1740 in a calendar year, to register this information"

[chris.n7 · Accepted solution]

That's the first time I've actually seen that flowchart and that's so helpful.

The info provided by ebay and HMRC has always been vague, probably by design to scare people.

I sell a lot of items, but I make no profit in doing so. So I'm always worried about falsely being flagged as a business.

Thanks for sharing that.

[k3vyn.w]

And it will be why people leave Ebay, no more bargains.

[papso22]

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@k3vyn.w wrote:

And it will be why people leave Ebay, no more bargains.

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I think people just have to re-evaluate what a bargain is to them.

[grand-de-bazaar]

I am a registered business seller, last 10 years, and why  ebay still ask me national number.?  should I give my national insure number? 

[papso22]

If you don't they will freeze your payouts. 

Ebay need it to add to the sales data they will send to HMRC. 

[ett1954]

I suspect it will have little impact on sales as the only people it will impact is those who have been evading the taxman.  Even business sellers masquerading as private sellers will be unaffected if they have been submitting a self assessment to HMRC.

For those who haven't; well it is too late anyway as the sales will still be submitted to HMRC without the national insurance number.  It will just make HMRC's job slightly more difficult as they can come back to eBay for further information regarding accounts such as bank details if they suspect wrong doing.

[papso22]

That is true, the data will be still be sent but might be red flagged as a non compliant member.

[moldosgifts]

Asked for mine yesterday although they've had my UTR number for last 10 years so not sure why they also need my NI. My UTR is linked direct to my tax obligations.

[papso22]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

Asked for mine yesterday although they've had my UTR number for last 10 years so not sure why they also need my NI. My UTR is linked direct to my tax obligations.

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Because HMRC have decided that irrespective of business status, they need the NINO for individuals.

I guess that enables them to link an individual selling as a business on ebay, with that same individual selling on another platform where that platform does not have the UTR for whatever reason, but will be providing data with the NINO.

[moldosgifts]

They all have my UTR can't open a business and them without it.

I've sent it just question why they need it with my UTR already supplied.

[papso22]

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@moldosgifts wrote:

They all have my UTR can't open a business and them without it.

I've sent it just question why they need it with my UTR already supplied.

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Because not everyone is as compliant as you and may be trading as a private individual on another site.

[wjperryjaguarspares]

if ebay have our national insurance numbers it should be possible to limit members to say 2 accounts. one for buying and one for selling. this would stop vindictive/fraudulent buyers. example-- a buyer messes a seller about, ebay have given us the tools to block that buyer, the buyer has always had the option to simply open another account and carry on messing that seller about. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@wjperryjaguarspares wrote:

if ebay have our national insurance numbers it should be possible to limit members to say 2 accounts. one for buying and one for selling. this would stop vindictive/fraudulent buyers. 

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Someone who only uses their account for buying would never be asked for their NINO.

[papso22]

But accounts used just for buying won't have to provide their NI numbers, and if they wanted, ebay can already link accounts, sometimes entirely incorrectly.

[alfifletch27]

Don’t look good! 

be selling for highish 

takings threshold 

but very small 

overall profit 

then get taxed by HMRC !

is it worth it to keep selling on eBay !

becoming a very confusing expense hobby to earn a little every year 

also paper work to do !

and tax returns on small yearly profits 

you can take £17.000 a year on

ebay that looks great but it not profitable 

if you’re buying and reselling 

say you bought items over the year for £10.000 

£7.000 profit 

take away the tax charges 

cost for envelopes etc 

refunds lost profits 

Items you cannot sell so you loose on selling cheaper for what you gave for !

your lucky to clear 

£2000 or even £4000 over the period of a year and that’s good 

if you can more like £2000 profit in one year it’s ok like that for a hobby! But not to be taxed and all the hustle I don’t won’t to leave eBay ) but iam thinking I have no options to much hustle and headaches in small profits that look like you earning a fortune 

[debs281]

I've just had the request as I just hit the threshold, thing is the stuff I put on there is all my 17 Yr old sons old action figures and video games, I give him the money for them as its his stuff, I'm not seeing any of the money so where would I stand if hmrc come knocking?

For now I've ended the other few bits on there as I don't know what to do

[silver_revival]

Just tell them what you've told us. 

I don't think they're looking for people like yourself who are making a bit of extra cash. They're looking for people that are running profitable businesses and not paying tax.

Read this statement from the government on side hustles: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/boost-for-side-hustlers-as-300000-people-to-be-taken-out-of-tax-r...

I think it shows leniency and understanding for people like yourself, eBay has also made an announcement on this. Even if you are over the threshold they will probably just make you pay a bit of tax.

[papso22]

They are looking to reduce the number of people who have to fill out the full self assessment form, not reduce the number of people who have to pay tax.

[wintersdawn1]

• If you are selling unwanted personal possessions such as old toys or clothes, this would not be classed as trading or miscellaneous income, and there is usually no tax to pay. In some circumstances there may be capital gains tax when selling valuable items such as jewellery, this is covered in our flowchart.

https://www.litrg.org.uk/news/selling-online-make-sure-you-keep-clear-records

Do I have to share information with HMRC?

From January 2024, new UK digital sales reporting rules require digital platforms like eBay to share information with them. However, this reporting doesn’t change your tax obligations.

On eBay, this should only affect newly registered accounts in 2024, which will extend to all accounts in 2025.

eBay will only report if you pass certain yearly sales thresholds:

• If your total sales on eBay exceed €2000, or roughly £1740, after fees.

• If you complete 30 or more sales transactions on eBay.

In general, selling personal items is not taxed if they’re below £6,000 and you’re not selling as part of a business.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/selling/selling-online-and-hmrc

[silver_revival]

They are looking to increase the threshold from £1,000 to £3,000 which will reduce the number of people liable to pay tax.

Taken from gov.uk:

Up to 300,000 people, including those with side hustles, will no longer need to file a Self-Assessment tax return, tax minister James Murray is expected to announce in a speech later today.

This includes people trading clothes online, dog-walking or gardening on the side, driving a taxi, or creating content online.

As part of a bold new package to transform HMRC into a quicker, fairer and more modern body the minister is expected to announce plans to increase the Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) reporting threshold for trading income, from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament.