The Taxman is coming

[martmarg41]

Daily Mail article 18th October.

From 1st Jan 2024 all on-line sales platforms will have to notify HMRC of sales data for sellers.

Can Ebay please confirm what data they will be providing. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@micmacs-online wrote:

Hi... Ive sold on ebay for a coulpe of years.. But I havent sold anythng for the last 4 months.. So as of the 1st of jan will ebay tell the government about my past sales history or just from the 1st of january?....I look forward to your insight.. thanks T

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Due to new legislation eBay became obliged to provide HMRC with qualifying user's sales information from 1st January; only sales from that date will be provided to HMRC under the new legislation. However, HMRC already had access to the buying and selling activity of all eBay UK's users beginning around 2010.

So, to answer your question eBay had already provided HMRC with your previous selling history - it just wasn't provided under the new legislation.

[ett1954]

As you were selling as a business seller I presume you were already filling in a self assessment for tax purposes.  Just carry on completing self assessments for each financial year until you stop trading and if you stop trading completely you will need to declare that on the last self assessment that covers the date you closed your business down. 

[a.c.r.o.n.y.m]

I sold 5 laptops last year, two were for the kids since needed something cheap and the other 3 because I needed one myself, each time I sold one was to fund the other laptop I wanted.

Would this be considered excessive?, btw there's are not expensive laptops but stuff like 100-250 price range. Broke even on 2 of them, rest made, 30, and 50 odd each. However, only sold because I finally got a laptop I wanted and should have from the beginning.

[*vyolla*]

@a.c.r.o.n.y.m 

You look like a private seller listing their own personal possessions to me, I can't see an issue there.

Plus, eBay are reporting from Jan 1st 2024 anyway.

[a.c.r.o.n.y.m]

I thought it was from last year?, yeah I was worried. I use ebay to buy stuff then later either keep or sell later to buy the next shiny new toy. I don't sell to make a living out of it, but still I'm scared because its HMRC .

[4_bathrooms]

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@a.c.r.o.n.y.m wrote:

I sold 5 laptops last year...

...btw there's are not expensive laptops but stuff like 100-250 price range.

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eBay are only obliged to report sellers who sell 30 items and/or ~£1700 a year in total starting January 1st 2024. Even if that reporting threshold existed last year (it didn't) you would have sold 5 items for £1,250 or less so you wouldn't have met either reporting threshold anyway.

Note that just because eBay is obliged to include seller's details once they meet one of the thresholds it does not mean that any income tax is due once one of those thresholds is reached. Private sellers who sell their unwanted personal possessions are not the people HMRC are interested in as there is no tax due on their sales. HMRC are looking for undeclared trading income; where eBay is concerned this means people who bought items with the intention of reselling them on eBay. This is different to buying something with the intention of owning and using it for a while before selling it on eBay. It is also different to being gifted something, deciding you don't  want it then choosing to sell it on eBay.

[psycho_comics]

they will be providing your sales