National Insurance Number

[jckl1957]

A quick post and a straightforward question.

From January 2025 , which begins tomorrow, Ebay have to pass your details to HMRC if you sold 30 or more items in 2024.

Have they requested your NI Number yet?

Only asking because they have not asked for mine yet.

[lucy_farmer]

Nope.

Not been asked.

But then my account is far from new.... and I've only made 2 sales in the last 3 months! (dunno if that makes any difference, but the only people being asked so far seem to be new account holders? from what I can make out anyway....)

[prescott9376]

 'Has Ebay asked for your NI number?',

As no one has said yes I think the question has been answered but if everyone had stuck to such a narrow parameter it would have been a bit of a boring topic as everyone would have given a 1 word answer "NO"

It would also have been of some interest if perhaps someone who has joined the site recently showed up to give their take on it;

I would hazard a guess that the majority of members have no idea of what is to occur over the next few months & not just the HMRC thing. 

Perhaps thats just as well.

[myriad*seller]

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@jckl1957 wrote:

I have accepted a solution.

Thanks to all who replied, but, if you don't want to answer the question 'Has Ebay asked for your NI number?', could you start your own thread?

I am disappointed that NOT ONE PERSON has answered my question.

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What answer were you looking for?

eBay have, so far, requested NI numbers from all accounts opened in 2024. In line with what they said they would do. 

This year (2025), they will be asking for NI numbers from all accounts opened before 2024, as this is what they stated on the info page about collecting NI numbers.

So eBay will be asking for your NI at some point this year.  

[jckl1957]

This was my question:

Have they requested your NI Number yet?

'Yes' or 'no' was the answer I was looking for.

[lorne57]

I answered "no" on post 6 last night

[jckl1957]

Apologies @lorne57 you did answer ... although it was a 'no but ...'.

And thanks to lucy for answering.

[the-nutwood-collection]

No, eBay haven't asked me for my NI number.  However, I think I gave it to them when I opened the account in 2019 - but I might be wrong.

@prescott9376 Etsy has demanded NI, UTR, address, LUCID and other European permission numbers.  They will put shop in holiday mode and suspend payments if the info isn't received by the close of 2024.

[prescott9376]

Thanks for that.

I am on Etsy but haven't listed there for a couple of years. I do look in at the forums but hadn't seen anything.

thanks for that

[papso22]

If you haven't listed for a couple of years you don't meet the definition of 'active seller', so won't have to provide your NI number, unless you become active again.

[slxhawk]

Etsy have asked for our NI number all the scaremongering on this forum about giving it is ridiculous.

[kempseykate]

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@slxhawk wrote:

Etsy have asked for our NI number all the scaremongering on this forum about giving it is ridiculous.

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I don't think you can say that until a few years have passed and none of the sites that have NI numbers have been hacked.

Don't forget, vinted plastered members NI numbers on their profiles for all to see!

[prescott9376]

Just had a notification that a user,  (wont include username) had added to this thread last night, 10pm.

His/Her comment was visible on my feed and I believe pertinent and didn't appear to break any rules but having  looked back at the thread it seems to have gone.

Basically they were asking about consequences.

[lights-camera-actionuk]

I have a my vat number on my accout which has been for over 10 years my address my name  my telephone number i pay a accountant to do my accounts every 3 months i pay my vat on time my tax on time now they want my bloody NI number *bleep* !

[clearingmyshelves2025]

Asked for this morning.

[papso22]

Looks like ebay have finished getting that information from accounts registered last year and have started on the established ones.

The NI number is the tax identification number that HMRC requires for all accounts, private and business, where the legal entity is an individual. 

[annemann-2009]

If you are buying items to sell, then you need to report to HMRC. If you are selling things you previously bought "because", then you shouldn't have to. Unless you are selling something for over six grand.

If you are just selling stuff under six grand, and you're clearing out/getting rid of things you've bought for your own enjoyment, then nothing will change.

[jckl1957]

Just copying and pasting this from another thread.

Hopefully some may find it useful or pertinent.

In the past few days, Ebay have begun to ask private sellers for their NI numbers.

As was very widely publicised last year, Ebay has to pass information to HMRC regarding all sellers whose sales in a year exceed 30 items or about £1700.

What HMRC then do with that information will be up to HMRC.

This link shows you what Ebay have to report - they do need to give HMRC your NI Number.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/regulatory/sales-reporting/uk-digital-sales-reporting?id=5454

Ebay and other platforms were expected to begin wholesale reporting in January 2025 but then HMRC altered the timescale (source HMRC website)

Extended time limits for due diligence on pre-existing sellers

When you first become a reporting platform operator, you have until the end of the second year to complete due diligence for pre-existing sellers, who are those who have been registered on your platform before you had to start reporting.

This gives you an extra year to collect and verify information for pre-existing sellers. 

If you do this, you’ll need to add a reporting notification in the online reporting service to tell HMRC.

For example, if a platform operator becomes subject to the reporting rules on 1 July 2024, its first reportable period is 2024.

The date by which it must complete due diligence is:

• 31 December 2024 for sellers who registered on or after 1 July 2024
• 31 December 2025 for sellers who registered before 1 July 2024
•  

  If you want to see what information regarding your sales Ebay have passed to HMRC, use this link which will confirm (or not) if your sales information has been passed to HMRC.

  Digital sales report

  You receive a Digital sales report if your number of transactions or total transaction amount meet the reporting threshold in a calendar year. Find out more information on our Help page.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/mes/transaction-reports?q=tax

[jckl1957]

Got the red banner and email message today, asking me to 'update my account for the UK digital sales reporting law' by adding my NI Number.

Obviously Ebay are now requesting details from established accounts.

[ett1954]

Mine came through about a week ago.  I believe when the HMRC sales criteria are met then this results in the request being sent as the message to me did indicate that I had exceeded the criteria for HMRC reporting; hence the request.

[jckl1957]

I have literally just sold 30 items this year but I believe that Ebay have to report my sales for last year, January to December 2024, so I don't really understand why crossing that threshold this week should lead to them asking for my details now as it is not relevant in any way to what I sold last year.

I am not concerned or surprised that they have asked for this information.  It was very well publicised and certainly expected and, to be honest, I expected a flood of 'Why are Ebay asking for my NI number?' posts.

Reporting to HMRC

Starting January 2025, eBay will begin annually reporting to HMRC. Each January we will report for the previous year and provide you with a copy of the data reported