VAT ebay sales new rules

[george758555]

Hello, 

I am a private seller. I am slowly selling a railway model collection  that was left to me by a friend who died.

The items are used, but the values sold are over £ 1000 a year. Does this put me under the category of those who need to declare them for VAT ? Can someone advise ?

Thank you

[papso22]

---

@jodylf82 wrote:

You don't need to pay vat. But you will need to complete a self assement and pay tax on it as its over £1000 earned. 

---

If you are replying to the OP ------  NO THEY WON'T!!!!!!

[*vyolla*]

---

@jodylf82 wrote:

You don't need to pay vat. But you will need to complete a self assement and pay tax on it as its over £1000 earned. 

---

This is incorrect.

I do so wish that people would read the replies that have already been posted on this thread, this has been corrected so many times.

The £1000 is a Trading Allowance, and it's for small/hobby business sellers.

A private seller selling their own personal items isn't subject to this, it's nothing to do with their tax allowance.

See here:

https://www.gov.uk/check-additional-income-tax

[1984jo]

I am a university student and I sell items that have brought and decided I did not want them, items that have been in my loft for years and I also sell things people have given to me but 95% I do not make back the money I paid for the item originally. Also to pay tax when you are not paying tax because I do not work, you would have to make over £12,000 in profile (mayb wrong, if someone can correct me) and I definitely do make anywhere near that. I think it more about people who maybe on benefits who have been claiming and selling on eBay and making thousands in profiles a year, my mum (who is on the sick benefits ) sells on eBay as I help her with it (as she as arthritis in her hands) and it just normally stuff in her wardrobe (and she as a lot of clothes) or stuff people have given her but she does sell more than 30 items a year but she definitely not make thousands in profiles. Maybe someone as a different opinion but it seem most selling are ok but the ones who are make thousands in profils a year are the one who could be in trouble but the information is a little confused and it does seem that HMRC have being getting the information for years but just in a different way.

[jodylf82]

Selling old stuff is ok, but if you make more than £1000 we will have to do tax return and if item less than originally paid were expected to keep receipts to show sold item for less. It's ridiculous.

Good luck everyone

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[*vyolla*]

---

@jodylf82 wrote:
Selling old stuff is ok, but if you make more than £1000 we will have to do tax return and if item less than originally paid were expected to keep receipts to show sold item for less. It's ridiculous.

Good luck everyone

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

---

This is incorrect.

I do so wish that people would read the replies that have already been posted on this thread, this has been corrected so many times. I've even already posted this a few replies before you posted on this thread. 

The problem with misinformation is that is spreads (usually to Facebook, the root of all regurgitated misinformation).

The £1000 is a Trading Allowance, and it's for small/hobby business sellers.

A private seller selling their own personal items isn't subject to this, it's nothing to do with their tax allowance.

See here:

https://www.gov.uk/check-additional-income-tax

[*vyolla*]

---

@1984jo wrote:

I am a university student and I sell items that have brought and decided I did not want them, items that have been in my loft for years and I also sell things people have given to me but 95% I do not make back the money I paid for the item originally. Also to pay tax when you are not paying tax because I do not work, you would have to make over £12,000 in profile (mayb wrong, if someone can correct me) and I definitely do make anywhere near that. I think it more about people who maybe on benefits who have been claiming and selling on eBay and making thousands in profiles a year, my mum (who is on the sick benefits ) sells on eBay as I help her with it (as she as arthritis in her hands) and it just normally stuff in her wardrobe (and she as a lot of clothes) or stuff people have given her but she does sell more than 30 items a year but she definitely not make thousands in profiles. Maybe someone as a different opinion but it seem most selling are ok but the ones who are make thousands in profils a year are the one who could be in trouble but the information is a little confused and it does seem that HMRC have being getting the information for years but just in a different way.

---

You can sell your own personal items without having to complete a self assessment tax return, you can check that for yourself by checking on HMRC's website, link below:

https://www.gov.uk/check-additional-income-tax

If all you're doing is selling goods online, eBay and the other online platforms (such as Vinted, Depop, Etsy) will ONLY pass on data to HMRC automatically if you're selling 30 or more items a year OR have total earnings over the equivalent of £1,770. eBay will automatically share this information with HMRC by 31 January 2025 – the first lot of data-sharing will cover the current 2023/24 tax year.

Even though the above data is being shared, it doesn't mean that you will owe tax if you're a private seller.

This eBay guidance page explains what they'll be doing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/regulatory/uk-digital-sales-reporting?id=5454&st=3&pos=1&query=U...

[*vyolla*]

---

@1984jo wrote:

 I think it more about people who maybe on benefits who have been claiming and selling on eBay and making thousands in profiles a year, my mum (who is on the sick benefits ) sells on eBay as I help her with it (as she as arthritis in her hands) and it just normally stuff in her wardrobe (and she as a lot of clothes) or stuff people have given her but she does sell more than 30 items a year but she definitely not make thousands in profiles. 

---

I'm putting this point in a separate answer because I don't want to muddle things and this is important.

Anybody in receipt of a benefit who is selling on eBay, even their own personal items, should check with their local benefits office if selling off their own personal items will affect their benefits in any way (particularly if it's a means tested benefit). 

[insidethe93]

Be ready to produce the hard copy official evidence that the items were bequeathed to you, such as the probate solicitor's letter(s) to you.

[Anonymous]

Actually it is tax yer 2024/5

[*vyolla*]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Actually it is tax yer 2024/5

---

Actually it's not.

Data will be shared from 1st January 2024 so will cover 2023/24 tax year (it goes from April to April so the next reporting tax year runs from April 2023 to April 2024).

[1984jo]

Thanks, i check on the government website and it seems me and my mum will be fine to sell items has it way below £6,000 and it just items we already owned. I think everyone is just getting confused because it not really clear what the HMRC are changing but it seem they are not charging anything, just the way they collect information. Also I did not no HMRC had that many staff to deal with all this, may be wrong be checking everything from eBay and other sites would be very time consuming and take a lot of staff but mayb I am wrong. 

[george758555]

There was no probate, because when my friend died his pocessions were way below the probate. His brother has produced a letter saying what the collection consists of, and that it is gifted to me,  but it was not possible to itemise. Too many ( small items ) boxed,, unboxed, etc

I work fulll time, but I was with Universal Credit during corona virus when unemployed. Since then I found work but they continued paying me some small amounts per month. I queried this and they said that my income was such that they were supposed to give something extra. Before I started selling the collection I sent them a message asking if selling items on eBay affects my status and they said no. I have kept the screens

[1984jo]

So it seem that I can sell items for profit upto £1,000 but I can sell stuff that I brought for myself or family that I no long need or what and that is not included in the £1,000 because it is my own personal items. 

I checked on government site and it said if it my own stuff I can make up to £6,000, I wish I did make upto £6,000 but I definitely don't. 

[*vyolla*]

---

@1984jo wrote:

So it seem that I can sell items for profit upto £1,000 but I can sell stuff that I brought for myself or family that I no long need or what and that is not included in the £1,000 because it is my own personal items. 

I checked on government site and it said if it my own stuff I can make up to £6,000, I wish I did make upto £6,000 but I definitely don't. 

---

It all comes down to whether you are trading or whether you are selling off your own personal items.

If you're selling off your own personal items then the £1,000 Trading Allowance isn't applicable to you - that's an amount that somebody who is buying items to resell or making items to sell would have as an allowance.

[insidethe93]

Do you mean the estate's value was so low that no inheritance tax was due?

It sounds as if some personal possessions were distributed semi-informally. I'd always advise more formal methods. I've seen so many complications arise during probate due to such informality or semi-informality, and it occurs at a heart-breaking time when people should really be left to mourn.

Anyway, keep any paperwork you have, ready to submit to HMRC, such as the brother's letter - it could take on more signficance than it first seems! (HMRC can be notoriously unempathetic to the bereaved.) Unless HMRC specifically require the original letter (in which case of course keep a copy), get a photocopy marked & signed as a 'certified copy' and submit that.

I forget the entire list (it's available by googling) but those allowed to certify copies include doctor, dentist, minister of religion, councillor, solicitor, teacher; basically anyone considered "upstanding" in the community. Pharmacists aren't on the list but a relative once used a copy successfully certified by his pharmicist.

If HMRC get onto you, you'll probably need need to supply them (or it'd speed things up if you do) with a certified copy (note, not just a copy but a certified copy) of the Death Certificate. You can order original DCs online, for a small fee, though normally those who apply are probate solicitors or people in that strange no-man's-land between attorney and beneficiary; or ask the Registrar (they have a standard leaflet about how to order them) - if you don't want to trouble the brother of your friend for one.

[george758555]

Hello and thank you for your prompt response.

There is no problem with the death certificate as I have the original and an official duplicate as I asked for that  at the time of death. 

I have the brother's letter, I will try and found out how I can make a certified copy of it.

Yes, it was an informal semi/informal distribution because my friend had no property or a lot of money. I suppose his most valuable pocessions were the model train collection and a 60's ocean liners brochures collection which I'm also trying to sell.

[insidethe93]

Someone who certifies a document has to be "of good standing" but there are no hard and fast rules. They aren't obliged to do it. If they don't know you, have ID ready.

For simplicity many people pop into a solicitor's.

Solicitors tend to already have pre-prepared self-inking stamps so they don't need to remember the wording that's usually used: "I herey certify this to be a true copy of the original. Signed: name, address, occupation, date".

[1984jo]

Thank you for the response. 95% of my stuff is my only personal items but about 5% is items someone has given me to sell because they do not have any account but they were there own items and the are not going to make the money back they pay for them because they pay like £30 for a scarf and on eBay they go for about a £10 they are not going to make a profit but I guess this would fall in the £1,000 category has we are splitting the money that I make. 

[*vyolla*]

It would technically make you a trading assistant (somebody who sells on behalf of others) if you are giving them the money.

If they've given you the items to sell because they no longer want them and you're not giving them any money from the sale then they're your items and you don't fall into the £1,000 Trading Allowance catgeory because you wouldn't be trading as a business.

Does that make sense?

[1984jo]

Yes that helps. It all got a little complicated on eBay, but basically as long as it my items and I not making a profit on my items, so in theory if I brought something for £30 but selling it for £10 some time later because I no longer want it,  it is all good, and I can sell has much as I want. It only if I brought something at say £10 and selling it straight away for £20 than I only have up to £1,000 to do that. If I got that right.