Tax on Vinted sales!?

I actually buy the vast majority of stuff second hand ; it's cheaper, it usually benefits charities, and I'm a tree hugger.

I also sell it on if I can when not using it.

My area has a lot of well off holiday home owners who buy expensive stuff out of two department stores and then chuck it out in good condition. The stuff sells well because it's mostly labels that people think are naice.

It's pretty ironic that I'm being frugal and recycling (and giving to charity, I admit I buy way more than I would new; because it's reasonably priced and for a good cause), yet I'd have to watch like a hawk if I made over £89 a month selling stuff (women's, men's, kids etc) on - yet I wouldn't have to think about it for one second if I'd bought it all new.

Re selling stuff for an ‘accidental’ profit- unlikely to be above the £1k threshold in the scenario you describe above so nothing to worry about. If it is then you’re making a profit (whether a regular trader or not) and being taxed on it.

Re selling a few high value personal items in a year- in your scenario it’s unlikely you’d be selling for more than you paid so no profit and therefore no tax return to worry about.

All good points.

Your bank details .... You're saying HMRC will root around in people's bank accounts if they look like they're selling too many used clothes on eBay?

If, for example, you are claiming UC but can apparently find over £6K of old clothes to get rid of each year

For the sake of argument, the person could be on UC as of a month or two before; they could previously have had a good income and amassed a lot of personal items Inc clothing, bags, jewellery, tech etc. They might be on UC due to a change in circumstance like divorce, ill health, redundancy, suddenly solo parenting. That stuff might be the only way they can raise money for a few years.

Oh and you can get UC while having 6k (?) in the bank, so it's not inconceivable someone could buy stuff and sell it on if they no longer need it.

If you buy stuff solely for personal use and then sell it on (for a lower/same price) when you're done, it's not a business

But what if you sell your own stuff on eBay and the end price is higher than you paid? For example, I recently sold a piece of jewellery that I paid £50 for ten years ago for almost £200. It was an auction, so I had no idea how much it would end up selling for (I started the auction at £25).

In the past I've bought items (new and second hand), worn them a few times then sold them when having a clear out and occasionally they've sold for more than I paid.

However, I'm definitely not a trader, despite having made the occasional profit on personal used items. If I'm starting my auctions at very low prices and there ends up being a bidding war I have no control over what items sell for.

Also, what about people who sell a few high value personal items a year? For example it's not beyond the realms of possibility that someone might sell say a laptop, a musical instrument and a piece of jewellery in year and the total is over £1000. They're not trading and they're only selling stuff they've bought and used themselves.

I was going to have a massive clear out in the spring but I'm not sure I will now!

Because the algorithms will combine the data from Ebay or Vinted with other data, most notably your NI number and potentially your bank details. If, for example, you are claiming UC but can apparently find over £6K of old clothes to get rid of each year, that might raise a quizzical eyebrow.

You are expected to be honest about it. The patterns of selling your own stuff and someone running a business, side hustle are very different.

This is just a reminder that online selling can be taxed. The website is really simple to understand.

And yes, HMRC do have time to do this. They do it in various sites all the time.

Yes, the story is merely that HMRC are (1) going to go after tax evaders who sell through vinted and (2) warning those who my not realise that they are evading tax.

Typical Guardian whipping up outrage, if you spent even a few minutes on research you will find tax does not work like this.

So no, a rich person cannot rent out five holiday homes call it a hobby and then not pay tax, this is utter nonsense.

And you do not pay tax on income, you pay it on profit, so if you are selling clothes for less than you paid for them there is no profit, so no tax.

Complete non story.

Always read the linked article and thread.

Sorry it was meant to have a question mark lol

What bastards for raising taxes on business profits ?

Get a grip !

I know people who sell items they buy in charity shops, thrift shops, car boot sales, Facebook marketplace bundles etc on eBay & Vinted.

They are buying to sell, but the vast majority of the items would be second hand/used (with only a very few new with tags).

They might clear out their own items occasionally too.

They're not putting on multiple items that are the same, the majority of items are used, the number of items they're putting on varies by week.

I'd be interested to know if/how hmrc algorithms will detect that they are not just clearing out.

Omg this is ridiculous. Looks like vinted and all these other places won't have any sellers and buyers at this rate. The government are bastards for doing this. Utterly disgraceful

OP is getting confused between the chattels rules for capital gains tax, and the rules for income tax on sole-trading income.

Edit - sorry, see you removed the question mark.

seems you can privately sell £6000 of old items

£6000 a year

Some people do turf stuff with tags into charity shops, but yes; it could be shop lifting.

They won't. They'll analyse the data from the online platforms and use it to establish who is trading and who is just having a clear out.

Those who are trading should be keeping records. If they're not and they get in trouble, that's their own look out.

And how is HMRC going to establish that ..... Require receipts for all items - for sales over £1000 in a year?

How embarrassing. To post something like this having not bothered to read it properly 🤡

HMRC are not interested in the people selling their old stuff online. This is to target high volume and business sellers.

The people who work in compliance for HMRC are not the people who work in call centres or process returns. I understand they are highly trained: most cases are risk assessed and selected using algorithms to analyse the data - not some bod scrolling through eBay.

Anyone who thinks they are too clever for HMRC should think again.

Ebay provides you with a monthly statement so it's not exactly difficult to do.

If you tell that form that you're self-employed and earn more than £1,000, it correctly tells you that you should send a self-assessment.