transaction report(s)

[keeshyakat]

Hi all. 

I am a private seller but, just to be sure on any income tax issues as I am retired on state pension, I want to print my monthly sales transaction sheets which is on ebay but it won't let me print it as I don't have excel on my laptop.

Does anyone know if there's any way this can be done please.

Many thanks 

[tools_gadgets_4u72]

I'm also a private seller with a full time job and sell on the side to pay for a holiday every year....I'm already reaching the allowance for 2025 and the reason for that is I didn't sell anything in December,so I was playing catchup..

My problem is ..I pick up new electronic gadgets and carboots sales every week and sell for profits ....obviously I don't have purchasing any receipts etc...and to the taxman it looks like I'm making 1k a month ,but I need to buy then sell I maybe sometimes making £10 per item....but make under 6K a year

I don't want this to affect my full time job tax code..

[tools_gadgets_4u72]

Please help me with advise

[game_raid]

What allowance are you referring to?

Your sideline is a business, you are buying items to resell. 

You are making over the £1000 trading allowance so need to register as a sole trader and submit a tax return.

If I sell something I own and make a profit, are there tax implications?

In order to pay tax on the goods or services you sell online, you either have to be trading or making a capital gain - opens in new window or tab. You may have to pay Capital Gains Tax - opens in new window or tab if you make a profit (‘gain’) when you sell (or ‘dispose of - opens in new window or tab’) a personal possession for £6,000 or more. Review this HMRC guide - opens in new window or tab for additional information.

Do I need to file a self assessment for my sales on eBay?

If your total income from trading or providing services online was less than £1,000 (before deducting expenses) in any tax year, you would not be required to inform HMRC nor pay any tax on the profits (this is due to the Trading and Miscellaneous Income Allowance - opens in new window or tab). Review this HMRC guide - opens in new window or tab for additional information.

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

I would speak to an accountant if I was you to get some advice on what to do.

[papso22]

The £6,000 a year is a red herring, it's the capital gains tax threshold and kicks in when you sell one asset for over that amount.

The tax that you are concerned with is income tax.

As advised by @game_raid , your buying and selling activities are business ones, you need to register for self assessment and look at HMRC guidance for information on that and the Trading Allowance. 

You also need to sell those items on an ebay business account.

[tools_gadgets_4u72]

Thanks for your reply ....the allowance is 30 items or £1741 ....how can I prove how much I paid for a cash deal

[tools_gadgets_4u72]

I'm not business oriented at all .I haven't a clue .I was just selling to pay for a holiday 

[papso22]

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@tools_gadgets_4u72 wrote:

Thanks for your reply ....the allowance is 30 items or £1741 ....how can I prove how much I paid for a cash deal

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That's not a tax allowance,  it's the reporting threshold for ebay to report to HMRC.

[papso22]

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@tools_gadgets_4u72 wrote:

I'm not business oriented at all .I haven't a clue .I was just selling to pay for a holiday 

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The issue is that you were buying to sell, to pay for your holiday.  

Just selling unwanted personal possessions to pay for a holiday would be different. 

[game_raid]

You are business orientated you are buying items to sell for profit.

The HMRC expects records to be kept, you should have been writing or adding to a spreadsheet when you bought an item and how much you paid, so when they audit you they have an idea what profit you have been making.

There are 1000s of sellers who use the same business model using carboots and charity shops to source stock to sell and use the same record keeping as above.

You can't falsely this information, they will have an idea of market values.

I am not sure how long you have been doing this but I would recommend you seek professional advice if you have been making around £6k a year or thereabouts.

It is better for you to declare your earnings than them to find out.

[tackle3d]

Personal Items is fine, no need to worry about the £1000 allowance.

The allowance is as many have said for those sellers who repeatedly sell the same/similar items over and over  like me. 

Again as many have said, if you are selling items/having a clear out do not worry about it.

Alan

[game_raid]

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@tackle3d wrote:

Personal Items is fine, no need to worry about the £1000 allowance.

The allowance is as many have said for those sellers who repeatedly sell the same/similar items over and over  like me. 

Do you have a link where it states this? This is the first I have heard it only applies to a seller selling items at qty.

They are not having a clear out, they have said they have been buying and selling from car boots to pay for a holiday and have been making/turning over upwards of £6000 a year.

[*vyolla*]

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@tools_gadgets_4u72 wrote:

I'm also a private seller with a full time job and sell on the side to pay for a holiday every year....I'm already reaching the allowance for 2025 and the reason for that is I didn't sell anything in December,so I was playing catchup..

My problem is ..I pick up new electronic gadgets and carboots sales every week and sell for profits ....obviously I don't have purchasing any receipts etc...and to the taxman it looks like I'm making 1k a month ,but I need to buy then sell I maybe sometimes making £10 per item....but make under 6K a year

I don't want this to affect my full time job tax code..

---

Looking at the items you've sold, you certainly should've been trading on a business account and, if your total sales amounted to more than £1,000 in a tax year should've been completing a self assessment tax return.

If you have a full time job you would have used up your personal tax allowance, so there would be some tax payable.

You've sold enough for eBay to report your sales to HMRC, so whether they will be in touch with you or not, I couldn't tell you. Problem is, they can go back a few years if they think that tax is due. You're in bit of a Catch 22 scenario here.

In your shoes, I would be seeking the advice of a professional accountant.

[vintique*violet]

@tools_gadgets_4u72 

I understand the you are trying to gather extra funds for holidays. Many people do this, usually  it is from selling personal items,  but if you are buying specific items to then sell on i.e from boot fairs etc and do this continually and consistently to make a profit, then it comes under trading income.  It is much the same as running a business to make a profit, even if you do not consider yourself a " business"  you are " trading." 

Your trading allowance is £1000 per annum. If your sales are below this,  there is nothing to be concerned about and you would not have to declare and complete a self-assessment. However, it appears that you are over this threshold and as you are trading ( buying to sell on for a "profit") and you are employed, you would need to declare and this possibly  could affect the tax you pay. 

The trading allowance of £1000 is set by HMRC, it is nothing to do with eBay - they have their own policies and to comply with Gov legislation they are "handing over" details of accounts to HMRC  who sell 30 items or reach a £1750 threshold.  Plus under ebay policies if you are buying to re-sell ( or making things to sell) regularly  you would need to open a business account with them - this would also help you to differentiate between items you sell for a " profit" and any personal items for accounting purposes. 

There is plenty of advice to help you, if you read all the response/messages on this thread.

The tax implications have not changed, it is not a new tax. 

I have tried to add links but they are being removed so will add the following information from a reputable site who also have done a lot of work with HMRC for those on low incomes and to help people understand more.... there are numerous links highlighted in blue, which can help you... if you are a visual learner click on the " flowchart" one as this shows a good example regarding online selling,  to quickly understand your position,  and there  is  a "guidance" too - these are showing in the first paragraph.  Then take a look at the " gov.uk" link. . Take your time and do not fear,  treat it  as a "earning curve" to help you to  start to put your " financials" in order. 

As an example perhaps to start you could download your monthly transaction statements from eBay ( found under overview, selling and payments tab)  to see where you are at and if you have any receipts gather them together and keep any future ones.You also can make up your own " receipts " for any cash sales you have made recalling the prices you paid to fill in any gaps. It maybe that yours comes under " miscellaneous income" such as hobby selling?  I do not know , as I do not know of your full circumstances, but contacting a tax advisor or accountant would probably help.  Please do not feel the you have done anything wrong... there are many, many people who are unawares of the implications particularly with online selling of goods and/or services. 

Online platform sales

If you use an online platform to sell items, you might need to think about your tax position. We have a lot of useful information about online sales in our main guidance as well as a flowchart summarising the tax rules, but the general position is:

• If you are running a business with a view to making a profit, then that is considered trading income. In the context of selling goods, this may include buying in items to resell or making/improving things specifically to sell on for a profit. There are a number of indicators of trading which HMRC use, these are called ‘badges of trade’ and include the intention to make a profit and are explained in more detail on GOV.UK.
• If you receive income on a more casual basis this is sometimes called miscellaneous income. For example, this might include income from a hobby. This activity might not meet the ‘badges of trade’, but is still relevant for income tax.
• 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.

The difference between trading income and miscellaneous income, as described in the first two bullet points above, is not always clear. This is especially true if you start your activity as a hobby without any real profit-seeking motive, and then start earning money from it more regularly. However, in both cases any income can be covered by the trading allowance, discussed below.

Complications with tax may arise if you are using the same online platforms to make sales related to a trade/miscellaneous income and to sell personal possessions.

Trading allowance

The trading allowance is a tax free allowance for trading and/or miscellaneous income of up to £1,000 per tax year. Our trading allowance page provides details on how this relief works and when you may want to use it, but in brief:

• If your total trading and/or miscellaneous income for the tax year is not more than the £1,000 trading allowance, you can claim ‘full relief’. In this case HMRC say that you do not need to register for self assessment and complete a tax return, unless you have another reason to do so.
• If your total trading and/or miscellaneous income is more than the trading allowance, HMRC say that you do need to register for self assessment and complete a tax return. However, you might still be able to use the trading allowance by claiming ‘partial relief’. This means you can deduct the £1,000 trading allowance instead of your actual business expenses.

Therefore, if you are using online platforms to make money, it may be beneficial to use either full relief or partial relief trading allowance, depending on the level of your sales.

  As already mentioned, selling unwanted personal possessions is not trading or miscellaneous income, and so these sales do not need to be included when considering the £1,000 trading allowance threshold. 

If you are using the same online platform to trade and to sell personal possessions, then you need to make sure you keep records of the different types of activities. This is shown in the example below.

Example – Trading allowance full relief

Libby is employed, but also sells items using an online platform to make some extra money. During the tax year, her total sales via the online platform (before any fees were deducted) were £1,350. Of this total:

• £500 was from selling clothes she no longer wanted (non-trading);
• £850 was from reselling new items that Libby originally paid £450 for, so she made £400 profit (trading).

Libby can use full relief trading allowance because her total trading income is below the £1,000 trading allowance threshold.

This means she does not have to register for self assessment and complete a tax return, unless she has another reason to do so. There will be no tax to pay on any of her income earned through the platform.

Example – Trading allowance partial relief

Roger is employed, but also makes sales using an online platform. He has total sales income for the tax year as follows:

• £250 from selling old toys that his children no longer play with (non-trading);
• £1,100 from reselling new items that Roger originally paid £750 for, so he made £350 profit (trading).

Roger is not able to use full relief trading allowance because his trading income is above the £1,000 trading allowance threshold. This means Roger will need to register for self assessment and complete a tax return.

However, he can use partial relief trading allowance which means he can deduct £1,000 instead of his actual expenses (£750). Roger’s taxable profits from his online trading will therefore be £100.

Roger does not need to declare the £250 from selling the toys.

Understanding the new OECD online platform reports

In January 2025 online platforms will start sending reports to HMRC for the 2024 calendar year for certain sellers. Online platforms users should also receive a copy of any information sent to HMRC about their platform earnings. You can read more about these reports and the criteria for sending them on our webpage, OECD rules.

If you receive a report from an online platform it is important to bear in mind:

• The report will be for the 2024 calendar year which covers part of two tax years (2023/24 and 2024/25). A tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April in the following year, so the 2023/24 tax year is from 6 April 2023 – 5 April 2024.
• The report will cover all transactions you have made through the online platform.
• If you use the same online platform for both trading/miscellaneous income sales and selling unwanted personal items, these will be shown combined together on the report.

HMRC plan to use the reports and other information to identify online platform users who may need to complete a tax return and possibly pay tax. However, it may be the case that even if you receive a report, you did not need to register for self assessment, perhaps because some of the sales in your report are just personal items which are not relevant to your income tax position.

Example – Online platforms reports

Ilya regularly uses an online platform to sell unwanted personal items. In June 2024, Ilya started to trade making items that he sells for a profit, using the same online platform to reach his customers. During the 2024 calendar year, Ilya sells over 40 items for £1,900 (before any deductions for platform fees).

In January 2025, Ilya receives an online platform sales report and isn’t sure what this means for his tax position.

He looks at his transactions during the 2024 calendar year and separates them into different tax years and type of activity (trading or non-trading). This is summarised in the table below:

	Trading income	Non-trading income (selling personal possessions)
1 January 2024 - 31 March 2024 (2023/24 tax year)		£350
1 April 2024 – 31 December 2024 (2024/25 tax year)	£950	£600

As Ilya didn’t start trading until June 2024, which is in the 2024/25 tax year, he knows that any transactions from 1 January – 31 March 2024 will relate to selling off unwanted personal items. This means for the 2023/24 tax year, there should be no tax due or any requirement to register for self assessment for these transactions. He works out that this income amounts to £350.

For 1 April 2024 to 31 December 2024 Ilya calculates he has earned £950 of gross trading income (so before deductions for platform fees) and £600 from selling personal possessions.

This means that so far in the 2024/25 tax year, Ilya is covered by full relief trading allowance as his trading income is not above £1,000. However, if he earns more than £50 during the period 1 January - 5 April 2025 then he will need to register for self assessment for the 2024/25 tax year and complete a tax return for his trading income. Ilya should also check whether it would be beneficial to claim the £1,000 trading allowance against his gross trading income, as partial relief, rather than deducting his actual business expenses.

Ilya may want to keep a record of this information in case HMRC ask for details about his online platform sales, such as screenshots of his non-trading items. Also, going forward Ilya may want to use different platforms for his different activities so he can separate his trading activities from selling unwanted personal possessions.                                                 

Keeping records

If you are doing a mixture of different sorts of sales using online platforms then it is a good idea to keep a basic record of the gross income for each type of activity as you go along. As shown in the examples above, keeping records will make it easier to identify:

• What sales are taxable
• What tax year those sales fall into
• Whether you can claim full relief trading allowance
• Whether you need to register for self assessment and complete a tax return.

It will also mean you can easily provide information about your sales to HMRC if requested. This is particularly important if HMRC receive an online platform report for you, under the new OECD rules mentioned above.

There is information on keeping business records on our website and detailed guidance if you have started trading in our self-employment guide and specifically on online trading. 

Hopefully the above with give you some ease of mind and wish you good luck in your future endeavours. 

Edit to add...links/site info 

[vintique*violet]

In addition to my post ... I understand the you are trying to gather extra funds for holidays

It should read I understand that you....sorry I missed it and too late to edit. 

[keeshyakat]

Back again & really just to say you really are all wonderful people, so much information (and time) given so I really do sincerely thank each & everyone on here.

I have tried to get through to HMRC for advice but the line is either jammed, line dropped or get stuck in a queue at number 500 in the waiting list,  lol. 

Anyway, I have read most of the info given here and hopefully some has stuck. 

So, if I understand my situation correctly & based on fiscal year April 2024 - March 2025 :-

Personal Tax Allowance:         £12,570.00

New state pension:                  -   11.502.40  (my only source of income)

PTA remaining:                             £  1,067.60

Personal item sales:                     2,044.60  (ebay, net income to date after postage fees removed)

This means I am currently this year over the Personal Tax Allowance by £977.00.  However, since this is from selling my own personal belongings (clothes & shoes that I no longer want) this does not & will not attract any tax & I do not need to submit a tax self assessment.  Is that correct, can I take a sigh of relief ?

Thank you all again

[papso22]

Sales of unwanted personal items do not attract income tax.

[porte2425]

Based on the info you have provided, you do not need to inform HMRC of the income from your eBay sales.

You are not currently this year over your Personal Tax Allowance by £977.00, because the income from eBay “Personal item sales” is not taxable.

You only really need to ask yourself one question…

Are you selling items that you bought or made with the intention of making a profit?

If no, then you are not trading, and you would not need to inform HMRC of this income. The only exception to this, where you would need to seek further guidance, is if you sold any item (or set of items – that definition can be a little confusing) for £6000 or more.

Even if a few of your sales could be classified as trading – perhaps you bought them, decided you didn’t like them after all, and resold them soon after, and made a slight profit on that – then you still could earn up to £1000 from that “side hustle” (as some call it), before having to declare it. But if you ever do have items that would fall into this trading classification, be careful. The £1000 allowance is income, not profit, before you should declare it. So, for example, £2000 of trading sales, that only resulted in £900 profit, would still have to be declared to HMRC. (Again, this isn’t currently your classification, so ignore it if you never have any intention of buying items to resell for profit.)