Ebay Traders Identified By HMRC As Those Needing To Pay Taxes

Any people selling online using sites such as E-bay are classed as traders if they are deliberately trading in order to make a profit.  If this is the case then HMRC expect you to register as self-employed and you will potentially have to pay tax.  It is profit that is taxable above your personal tax allowance.

It is common for people to move from selling off unwanted items from around the home to gradually move on to trade in products, buying them and selling them on for a profit.

If your phone number frequently turns up on ads you will need to tell the revenue.  This type of regular occurence of the same person or persons details are the kind of thing which suggests someone is trading online, rather than simply selling off a few items from around teh home. The HMRC are currently writing to thousands of people that they believe may be trading online.

This also applies to self-employed people who might decide to sell stock from trade accounts on at a profit on sites such as E-bay, Gumtree etc or on online auction sites.