Got the dreaded letter from HMRC

[jilly1910]

Have received a letter from HMRC about online selling and money earned and they’ve asked me to contact them to disclose my earnings .  The thing is my whole family use my EBay account , daughter sells her unwanted clothes , my son his toys , I sell my own stuff BUT I do also sell items which Ive found cheap and know I can get abit more cash for.

My question is will HMRC differentiate between the two and how do I prove to them what was mine/my children’s in the first place  and what I had found and bought.  I suppose the split is 50/50 

[dch2112011]

The following article explains it very well - the ony change is that the earnings between £1000 to '£3000 will not require a self assesment form to be filled in - any tax can be paid without the need to fill in a self assesment form via the HMRC portal - bit of a damp squid really - I guess the reporting thresholds remain the same - tax assesment letters will be the same - just if you earn less than 3k and more than 1k - HMRC don't need you to register for self assesment and fill in a return just to pay the amount they asses you at via the portal - cynically I feel this just saves HMRC the time and effort to look at your self assesment return !

HMRC makes £3,000 limit change as households face £600 tax bill 

[ett1954]

"cynically I feel this just saves HMRC the time and effort to look at your self assesment return !" - I doubt HMRC will look at self assessment returns.  The HMRC Connect software can now do that automatically by matching declarations against income submitted against your NINO from any digital platforms you receive an income from over the reportable limits.  Only if a disparity between the income reported by the digital platforms and that submitted on your self assessment (or if you haven't submitted one) would there likely to be any human involvement.

[dch2112011]

Whilst connect triggers certain areas of concern, around 1 in 100 tax returns spark some sort of investigation including the random investigations which are par for the course, connect is not the only trigger for investigation although it is being expanded as more onboarding of information sources takes place 

If HMRC are waiving the need to register and submit a return for  individuals who they anticipate having income between 1 to £3,000  they will not fall into the realms of investigation .

I suspect that the information gathering from all sources shows an income between 1 to 3k above allowances  then a tax bill will be raised and a tax code issued, the individual will then be required to pay the calculated tax via the  portal without the need to submit a return or register for self assesment thus saving HMRC man hours on the estimated 300,000 returns which will no longer be needed  which in turn means that 3000 investigations will not be started.

You may well see adjustments to tax codes for those who fall behind the thresholds.

The question is if the gathering of information by HMRC is to continue in the same manner , What if any opportunity will be given by HMRC to appeal the calculated tax bill if this is the way they intend to recover tax from 1k to 3k earners ?

[thriftyfe_mail]

The question is if the gathering of information by HMRC is to continue in the same manner , What if any opportunity will be given by HMRC to appeal the calculated tax bill if this is the way they intend to recover tax from 1k to 3k earners ?

That is a very good question that hopefully should it arise  HMRC will be to explain to those who may wish to challenge a calculated tax bill if it comes their way. 

Maybe there is somebody on the forum with the expertise or experience of tax matters to post i.e. tax inspector / accountant? 

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing  - Socrates, Greek Philosopher

[grabcan]

how did you get a report dating that far back? I tried and it only goes back to April 2021 for me? would you be able to explain how to get other years reports?? thanks

[pwyl4943]

So much for recycling and the environment - we have food banks and poverty and people sometimes can only afford second hand clothes.  

So much for Labour the party of the working man?

[ruby*ryan]

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@pwyl4943 wrote:

So much for recycling and the environment - we have food banks and poverty and people sometimes can only afford second hand clothes.  

So much for Labour the party of the working man?

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Nothing to do with Labour, the UK signed up for it before Labour came to power, and the tax law itself hasn't changed for years. If you are buying/making/growing to sell, you need to fill in a self-assessment form. If you are selling your own items, you don't.

[twin--turbo]

what are you on about?

[twin--turbo]

Your eBay data

[grabcan]

well I tried all the options on ebay and the furthest I can go back to is April 2021

[twin--turbo]

Using the url above? for me it goes back to my first purchases and sales in September 2000.

I

[wattiesdad]

I have been using that to go back years, it is very time consuming as it takes a week to generate a report. When I first requested my data, the report was all over the place, nothing listed in chronological order. I ended up having to request a year at a time (tax year), that way I could see sales for each tax year, but as I said, each report took a week, so to go back 8 years took 8 weeks. I have now given all my paperwork to an accountant.

[twin--turbo]

I have jsut requested from 1/1/2000 up to today. 

last 3 reports I generated were all in chrono order  , sales , purchases , etc.

normaly takes 3 days for them to provide it.

[ay5_61]

What's difficult, is those that were genuinely unaware of the tax obligations of selling on eBay.....who have bought MANY items at bootsales etc (like op) over many years. 

How do HMRC expect you to remember what you paid for things? 

Those unaware of tax rules would never have thought about making notes of costs, or asking for receipts. 

[twin--turbo]

So you have not heard of income tax?

[ay5_61]

Some people may have genuinely been unaware of the tax implications of trying to make extra cash on the side, and certainly not considered themselves as a business. 

[vinylscot]

And some people aren't aware of the speed limits on certain stretches of roads they drive on.

What's your point?

[ay5_61]

I'm not trying to make a point and I can see what you're saying. 

If tax is due, it's due and should be paid..... Of course.