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 

[oldbeadbird11]

Is this a new thing or has it always been in place ? I have never heard of
it before to be honest. Ive been selling stuff on and off for 10 years
because it is hard to exist on the SP and never had this crop up,

[edwardian-dreams]

Yes I think it became law in the last year or so

i dont know too much about it apart from the basics

i understand they want to go after people who are trading but not declaring their earnings 

there’s lots of threads on it and knowledgable people who can advise 

[lucy_farmer]

'I understand they want to go after people who are trading but not declaring their earnings '

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Not exactly,  it wasn't their idea....(But I'm sure the authorities aren't too upset about getting a look into some previously opaque bank accounts!)

What kicked this lot off, is an agreement between all 38(?) countries in the OECD about clamping down on online money-laudering. So now every online trading site ; ebay, etsy, vinted, uber, ebid, airb+b, etc has to give the financial details of any user who makes more money than the agreed limit (it's about 2000 euros. UK about £1700.)

I reckon ebay wouldn't bother with it unless they were forced to (which they have been) and even HMRC (whilst happy to catch up on loads of previous tax-dodgers) are probably slightly stunned by the extra amount of work it's brought on!

[edwardian-dreams]

Money laundering ? 1700 quid a year or 30 sales lmao 

thanks for that 

muppets

[twin--turbo]

the only thing new is the requirement by site to report data.

if you have been selling as a so called side hustle, then thats nothing new , just HMRC are now tracking you down, they will find you and when they do they will tax you. 

[gemini-project]

If HMRC are asking for your earnings that's exactly what they are asking for, it looks like they have assumed you are trading from your eBay activity and you need to prove otherwise.

Good luck and keep us updated on how you get on.

[igbyred-1]

You really need to check what information ebay supplied to HMRC before disclosing anything.  You have a legal right to challenge that information, and you'll probably find mistakes on eBay's part.  Sometimes they seem unable to differentiate between a private individual and a buisness.

To get hold of your data, make a subject access request in accordance with the DPA, it is very easy to do.

Good luck.

[medealady]

To add to the issue I believe the 'side hustle' allowance has been increased to £3,000 probably after HMRC realised the enormity of checking pensioners ebay accounts!  Also the 30 items is pretty silly. Those selling dolls clothes, trading cards, stamps, toy accessories can easily reach that yet not make more than a couple of hundred pounds.

[oldbeadbird11]

Thankyou, will do

[oldbeadbird11]

That sounds a bit better, thankyou

[buffster1963]

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@medealady wrote:

To add to the issue I believe the 'side hustle' allowance has been increased to £3,000 probably after HMRC realised the enormity of checking pensioners ebay accounts!  Also the 30 items is pretty silly. Those selling dolls clothes, trading cards, stamps, toy accessories can easily reach that yet not make more than a couple of hundred pounds.

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No, it as not. It may or may not be in the next few years but at present it remains the same. 

[medealady]

To also add to ebay's woes they will now have to keep comprehensive sales records of all sellers on their servers for several years whereas in the past it was hard to get selling history going back over a year. OP can get a print out and mark off anything possibly subject to tax. HMRC must be quaking going through 'this was inherited from my dead xyz' 'this is family clothing that no longer fits' 'after divorce this was unwanted' 'after divorce this was a duplicate record/appliance etc etc' 'i am selling my stamp/Lladro/doll collection' 'prove this is not an inherited tea set from Granny'. Sledge hammer to crack a nut policy. Car boot season is coming just a shame buyers now wont part with more than 50p an item (and the knowledge then shifting it on ebay will be neigh impossible)

[oldbeadbird11]

nightmare..

[oldbeadbird11]

Just about to make FOI request to Ebay but it doesn't recognise the question, can you tell me please what and to whome I write in the question box ? or am I in the wrong place x

[moldosgifts]

There are 3 different thing in play here

OECD money laundering laws is why the op received a letter from HMRC.

They will have breached the threshold set 30 item or £1740

HMRC have always wanted people to pay the tax due so no change there

Ebay have registration rules about registering on the correct account type "they buy to sell in their opening statement they state this. "

The mix up from the op is they allowed other family member to sell on their account

So its a right mess as long as accurate books have been kept a good accountant can sort that out.

@medealady That £3000 is misleading taken from an ebay announcement, the opening line reads 

 In a significant boost for side-hustlers across the UK, the Government announced this week that the threshold for filing a self-assessment tax return for trading income will rise from £1,000 to £3,000 by 2029.

Read the red bit 2029 possibly if it happens at all.

[jofo_441]

Thank you for this information.

So I had to put my national insurance number in does that mean I will be expecting a letter from HMRC. I just sell my old stuff as I'm a hoarder and now having a 2 year old i need the space.

Cheers

[lucy_farmer]

'I just sell my old stuff as I'm a hoarder and now having a 2 year old i need the space.'

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If you're just flogging your own old stuff, and there's a lot of it,  your info *will* be passed to HRMC.

HMRC *may* have a quick look your info, but if it's all personal old stuff, they won't do anything ... you are *not* their target 🙂

[moldosgifts]

Only if you breach the threshold 30 sales or the £1740 limit.

But don't worry about it. If selling your own property you'll be fine.

Just don't go to any car boots/charity shops pick something up thinking i can get ££  for that on ebay. That would be trading.

[papso22]

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@oldbeadbird11 wrote:

Just about to make FOI request to Ebay but it doesn't recognise the question, can you tell me please what and to whome I write in the question box ? or am I in the wrong place x

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It's not a Freedom Of Information request, those are only applicable when the entity is a public body,  you need to do a Subject Access Request, but why are you doing anything? 

What do you hope to achieve that you can't get from the details in your account?

[papso22]

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@igbyred-1 wrote:

You really need to check what information ebay supplied to HMRC before disclosing anything.  You have a legal right to challenge that information, and you'll probably find mistakes on eBay's part.  Sometimes they seem unable to differentiate between a private individual and a buisness.

To get hold of your data, make a subject access request in accordance with the DPA, it is very easy to do.

Good luck.

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Ebay provide a copy of the data they provided to HMRC in a section of a member's account.  That's a legal requirement.   You don't need a SAR.