General Forum - Ebay and the Taxman - Page 1

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why the hell should you pay more tax when you sell it on

Im surprised your surprised, we do live in the UK after all!

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About now im having amnesia and deja vu. I think Ive forgotten this before

Some people make a living selling things on E-bay. Should they be exempt from paying tax? You just have to look on the trading forum to see their are people out there doing this. Why should I as a shop keeper have to pay tax but someone at home selling not? I am sure they are not after people selling their old stuff. But if you are buying it with the express purpous(sp) of selling it on for profit, then yes, you should pay tax.

All the best,

The 42%er.


It's not easy being different. It's not easy being cool....but somehow I manage....

Probably fair enough in my book.
I certainly know of one woman who,since giving up work,reckons she makes a tidy living out of e-bay.
She buys stuff in local papers and flea markets,knowing she'll make a profit on e-bay.
One shouldn't be able to make a living out of it without paying tax.

Be interesting how they class 'items' though.
Do they mean listings or actual items ?
After all,you could have one listing containing 60 old DVD's,in theory.

Clarification required.

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I am sure they are not after people selling their old stuff. But if you are buying it with the express purpous(sp) of selling it on for profit, then yes, you should pay tax.

Can't argue with that, but where does this "60 items" limit come in? I don't see the Inland Revenue harrassing people at car boot sales because they have more than 59 items on their trestle tables, so it seems unreasonable to impose such an arbitrary limit on Ebay sales.

Mike

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I don't see the Inland Revenue harrassing people at car boot sales because they have more than 59 items on their trestle tables, so it seems unreasonable to impose such an arbitrary limit on Ebay sales.

E-bay is accountable and traceable.
Car boot sales would need massive manpower.
I'd be all for it if they did have the manpower though.
Too many chavs out there making a tidy living without paying tax.
Probably a fair few of them claiming benefits at the same time.

This item was edited on Monday, 21st March 2005, 12:17

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I certainly know of one woman who,since giving up work,reckons she makes a tidy living out of e-bay.

A girl has just left her job where I work as she was making more out of selling stuff on ebay than she was at work, and spending much less time on it in the process.

She's buying iffy counterfeit clothing in bulk from a warehouse near where she lives and flogging it onwards at a pretty hefty profit. If you're in the market for a cheap, crappy Von Dutch baseball cap, then she's your gal. Just don't tell anyone official-looking!

So, I have spent a small fortune over the last 10 years collecting old video games/computers/handheld electronic games etc.

As I now have a 2 year old my circumstances have changed rather a lot and I am considering selling a lot of it off and ebay is the best place to sell it.

Why should I have to pay tax on the sale of my own personal items??

I work for a living and pay tax on my earnings - If I sold them in my local paper or through a magazine I wouldn't have to pay tax.

If you sell on ebay you already pay tax through fees as well I believe.

I agree if someone is using it as their primary source of income then it should be classed as a business but if I sold more than 60 items that would not even be a tenth of my collection.

How are they going to monitor this?

This country becomes more of a joke every day - nice to know that the politicians will retire on a nice income due to the money they have pinched from everyone elses pension funds - so try and build up an alternative method of saving for a pension ( i.e collecting) and they will tax you on the sale of that too!



why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive

Yes, but when does the differentiation kick in?

If I am selling a collection of items that have never been out of their packaging and are in mint condition because I have stored them that way, then how does this differentiate from people who are selling new goods from their own ebay-shop?

One is a personal collection that I may be selling on for a number of reasons. The latter is a business. Either way, the chances are that there will be more than 60 items.

What if I moved house and wanted to clear out my spare room and sold 300+ items, would this be classified as a business or what?

I am more worried about historical items though, as I have sold over 800 items on ebay in the last 4 years. Surely there is no way that the Gvmt can claim back taxes for something that it not a legal requirement?

Meet The Wife

The article the OP is referring to is TimesOnline.co.uk i believe.

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Users who simply sell unwanted items online are not liable to incur tax penalties unless the profit they generate is more than £6,000, at which point capital gains tax may kick in.
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Mr Ludwig insists that paying tax will not spoil the fun of trading on eBay, or ruin your profits.

Time will tell.. i hope they dont come knocking on anyone's door...

This item was edited on Monday, 21st March 2005, 16:51