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 

[luxuryflames]

 You Hello. Please don't let these bullies worry you. Why should we be worried in making some extra cash to help with food and bills ,the whole thing has got out of hand. This government wants people to suffer the banks are just as bad, losing sleep and wandering what's going to happen next, my advice would be, try to keep calm and watch what the results are going to be. eBay is on a very slippery slope, have a wonderful positive day. Don't let them take that away from you as well, 

[*vyolla*]

My advice, for anyone who has received a letter from HMRC, would be to take professional advice from an accountant. 

[happyshopper1982]

I just ran this report and it's a blank. I was only asked for my NI number a couple of months ago which I provided without issue. I'm well over the threshold via downsizing £5k/200 sales so far this year. Probably about 20% Brand New/Unused items.

I've had this account since 2022 and with it being a pre-2024 account my understanding is that only 2025 onwards will be counted? I've been on ebay since 2002 but they wouldn't let me downgrade my old Business Seller account which they insisted I upgraded to sell a job lot of perfumes in 2016 - even though I was never a business and the sales fell well below the threshold. Like others I'm concerned I'll be labelled guilty until proven innocent on this new account.

[sml192]

Yes, if eBay didn't ask for your NI number until sometime this year then the first report to HMRC will be in January next year and will only cover 2025 sales. 

[wintersdawn1]

I've posted this before, maybe even on this thread, but don't want people to worry needlessly:

• 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

[formerly_dellthebomb]

I've never supplied my NI number to eBay and I got the letter two weeks ago and it's covering sales up to 2023.

Many others saying checking with the eBay digital sales info tab to see what info has been reported it also comes up no info has been supplied so unless HMRC are guessing it then I don't know 

[4_bathrooms]

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@formerly_dellthebomb wrote:

I've never supplied my NI number to eBay and I got the letter two weeks ago and it's covering sales up to 2023.

Many others saying checking with the eBay digital sales info tab to see what info has been reported it also comes up no info has been supplied so unless HMRC are guessing it then I don't know

Please see post #79 for an explanation. HMRC have access to all UK seller's eBay activities regardless whether eBay submits any data to them or not. These nudge letters are not being sent out as a result of eBay's OECD digital reporting obligations.

[formerly_dellthebomb]

HMRC have advised us that they have recently commenced a One to Many letter campaign directed at individuals whom they suspect are operating in the hidden economy and not reporting their income to HMRC. This is based on data HMRC have received from online marketplaces about sellers using their platforms

[rainbowtrax]

At the end of the day, anyone who has received the letter needs to deal with things rather than ignore it. It doesn't really make any difference whether ebay have submitted the data voluntarily or HMRC have collected it via their systems, the end result is the same. They know what you've sold and the figures won't change depending on how they acquired it. The most important thing is to deal with it sooner rather than later to avoid any penalties continuing to rise.

[4_bathrooms]

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@formerly_dellthebomb wrote:

HMRC have advised us that they have recently commenced a One to Many letter campaign directed at individuals whom they suspect are operating in the hidden economy and not reporting their income to HMRC. This is based on data HMRC have received from online marketplaces about sellers using their platforms

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HMRC used to conduct these one-to-many nudge letter campaigns every four years or so; the first was around 2015 which was long before the OECD digital reporting rules existed (you can see a BBC news article regarding their July 2015 campaign here). Following the Covid "amnesty" period HMRC seem to have ramped up their efforts by conducting these campaigns every two years.

The template letter I linked in my earlier post is virtually unchanged (other than dates) from the one they sent in 2015. Every new campaign is "recently commenced" but this is far from the first such campaign they have ever commenced.

[w.l.stubbs]

I have received my selling report from E-bay and it records sales going all the way back to 2003 so 22 years ago,

It is however quite patchy because certain things I sold many years ago such as some photographic equipment I sold when I went digital and sold my film cameras off appear whilst others don't.

The report lists title used in the listing the price it sold for the buyer I.D and the postage charged as well as the date and time sold.

[luxuryflames]

What on earth is going on. Us ordinary folk are just trying to make life a little better,  this is getting way out of hand

[formerly_dellthebomb]

That's going to be a big submission declaring all those years, good luck !

[w.l.stubbs]

It's a self generated data report not one that has actually been sent to HMRC, I did it out of curiosity to see how much data E-Bay holds on a account, so anyone wondering they have more or less everything from the day you joined to the present day.

[formerly_dellthebomb]

Ah ok I thought you were having to submit, bet it made for good reading

[formerly_dellthebomb]

I got my report back today after a week, it only held two years worth of data 2023-25, in a zip file. 

[*maetrix*]

Got mine a few weeks ago though it wasn't clear about whether it was what i'd made on ebay or through my actual job...the kind of people that work for hmrc are the lowest of the low,the sort who'd be traffic wardens...makes me wonder what is the bl00dy point in trying to make a bit of cash on the side ...doubly irritating when you see our government peeing our taxes down the pan on illegals/foreign aid (arms),

Seriously,we are at an all time low in this country.

But we (joe public) just get on with it.

[formerly_dellthebomb]

Sorry you got what? I thought we were talking about a report from eBay, did you get one from HMRC? or you mean just the letter

[*maetrix*]

Letter(s) from hmrc.

I was responding to the OP.

[suelel1968]

Hi Maetrix, i hear you, i don't agree with you, but i understand your comments. The point of trying to make cash on the side though is that you get to keep upto 80% of it or all of it if they are your own items you are reselling . There are many "sideline" tax deductions which you can claim against tax, just google them. 

It is not unreasonably to expect sidelines to be taxed, just like overtime via PAYE. I am glad that they can identify possible tax revenue for this country and i too hope the Govt don't waste it, but my definition of waste would be different to yours in every instance.