Tax on Vinted sales!?

@Grammarnut If you're doing a clear out of old clothes you no longer want, and at less than they cost to buy, then you are not going to be classed as a 'trader'.

If you sell something it does not matter why you bought it. HMRC will be after you if you appear to be making money. Keeping strict accounts of sale price, postage and platform fees will help you with HMRC, but they will not accept that you have made a loss on an item you bought to wear and then re-sold, because you have not: you have had the use of that item (its value) and are now cashing in what value is left. HMRC are not friendly. Keep accounts and if Vinted is saying you have over-sold then listen to what they ask of you - they too are interested in not attracting too much attention from HMRC.

This is exactly me. I retired last year and am a bit of a hoarder (no I don’t need help😁) I’ve sold over £1000 this year and still have some items listed although I’ve mostly finished the sort out for now.
come the autumn I was planning to have another clear out but am wondering if it’s worth it now. Whilst everything has sold at a lost and 99% was pre worn, I’m always dubious of coming under the gaze of HMRC
as the onus will be on me to prove it’s mine and I’m not buying to sell for profit!
I’ve already had an email from Vinted telling me I’ve exceeded the 30 items threshold and requesting me to put my NI number in to their pre completed form. Ive an issue with this as I can’t see what they have disclosed to check it’s correct and I’ve requested this but it’s now radio silence from Vinted.
im not sure why they have requested this already as I could easily look like a trader despite the sales are dropping off now I’ve finished the current clear out 🙄

It does not help matters when HMRC dish out incorrect advice on this - see the comment from HMRC Admin 21 on this thread: community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/sa/da2a25ba-30ab-ee11-a81c-002248004b84

Banks already report details of interest paid to their customers to HMRC; are you going to stop earning interest too?!

You could try contacting the Low Income Tax Reform Group for advice: www.litrg.org.uk

Only if you are trading ie selling with a view to a profit (profit meaning that you're aiming to sell items for more than you bought them for).

I would suggest you don't take advice from MN on tax! This thread proves lots of people haven't got a clue!

I'm not sure HNRC take, but someone on MN said it was fine as a form of defence.

hello, im selling on vinted and i got around 400 but im not registered for tax or anything i’m in spain is it okah

Hi. My friend also thought she could get around paying tax by not withdrawing funds to her account so that nothing will show up on her bank statements Did you ever find out? I personally don’t think it’s a solution. You still have a Vinted balance they can see…

Well that's up to you, but "having a clear out" is not trading. HMRC will not be interested.

Sorry, you are correct.

But the whole faff of it puts me off. Just to have to demonstrate. When I have a yearly or bi-yearly clear out I can easily sell over 200 items all priced low but still adds up to over £1000 in the space of 6-8 weeks. Especially if this is not net sales so it includes value of postage and before platform fees. A bit of an admin involved but a satisfying result for many reasons. Not sure I can be bothered to have to (potentially) account to anyone about it. I can't be alone in my thinking.

No, you have the wrong end of the stick, that's only part of what the article says.

The platforms may well be reporting any sales over 2000 euros to HMRC, but HMRC are ONLY INTERESTED if you are trading. Not selling your own used things.

Forgot to add link

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2024/01/online-platforms-etsy-vinted-airbnb-report-hmrc/

So Martin Lewis has explained that a great number of selling platforms will be sharing information covering sales starting in 2024. Anything over 30 sales/year or earnings over Euro 2000/year.

30 items a year is absolutely nothing unless they are higher value, over £50. Otherwise it's not worth bothering to have a clear out.
Such a shame. It means we won't be finding those great bargains from normal people clearing out their wardrobes, beauty stash and children's toys. And it means more stuff being thrown away or donated to charity shops. Charity shops nowadays are full of expensive crap so they'll be inundated with more products which they would discard. Or sell on eBay! But nit as cheaply as an individual selling own stuff.
Maybe charities will benefit in the end?

As regards traders avoiding to declare sales and not paying the correct tax, these types of people/businesses always find a way to avoid responsibility.

If you're selling a tonne of items you never use then yes it's possible you may fall under the trading umbrella and into the scope of tax, but you'd only be taxed if you were making a profit.

Perhaps use this as a wake up call to get help for your shopping addiction and hoarding.

Are you making a profit??

I’m so worried.
I sell my own items like bags and clothes as I’m hoarder and total shopaholic so I accumulate lots of items and what I do is I sell my items to buy more, never use them, and then realise I got too much so sell on again, buy more and etc.
Endless circle .
now I will be taxed on it?

Sorry! I agree with you. You weren’t replying to the comment I thought you were replying to. Sorry!

Except they are. 🙄

They actually said that if you sell your old dress that cost you £50 for £25 then you have to pay tax on £25. There is no tax to pay in this situation as firstly it is not trading and then, even if it were trading, it was sold at a loss anyway. So yes they were definitely wrong.

I know.

i don’t know why you’ve told me any of that.

You pay tax on the profit, same as in any form of self-employed work. A hairdresser or plumber doesn't pay income tax on the whole amount you hand over to them either, they deduct their costs first (materials, premises, vans, insurance etc).

You don’t pay income tax on the entire rent though.

No they aren’t.

What is even scarier is the number of people who would (rightly) be sceptical of everything they read from the likes of the DM but credulously suck up pieces like this from the Guardian.

The Guardian used to be a well respected liberal left leaning broadsheet with a good standard of journalism. Under Viner it has become into a West Coast clickbait tabloid with journalism standards drifting down to the gutter. The Observer is closer to the old values of journalism but I don't see that lasting when Webster moves on.