trading on ebay - any accountants in the house ?

[Thunderchild]

Well I was on ebay and noticed that our beloved HMRC have gone to all the trouble to have an advert put up about if your "trading" you should be paying taxes on it and should tell them and if you do they will be nice about it. Well I do trade, it started with the fact that I'm an electronic hobbyist and noticed you can get parts on ebay too as well as from the main suppliers and that on ebay they charge ridicolous amounts for most stuff (in my view). So I thought hell I can have a go at this, I always bulk buy parts anyway I can sell those I use anyhow so nothing gained nothing lost. Well I won't say it went great but I make a few pennies (literally), I get sales and I know I'm not loosing any.

I've often thought of starting up a business for this sort of thing and throwing in some products i can design and make but never got around to it. Now I'm quite happy to go legit but how much is it going to cost me ? if I have to start paying an accountant etc. it just won't be worth it unless i up my game and I can't invest in that sort of thing.

So I can quit before they get me - if they ever do, just go legit now, or tell them and let them sort me out....... or ignore and carry on. I don't like being dishonest and to be honest I don't view my small tax break as dishonest, I have to put up with plenty of shafting from the government, they either get my 20% tax or my 20% VAT when i spend the money, up to them !

[ojread2]

so, what do you want to know?

I would suggest you try this http://community.ebay...ler-Board/1900001545?

[Thunderchild]

well what would the "cost" of setting up a business be ? do i just keep records and present them when asked or do i have to pay an accountant to audit them ?

[johnny37]

Taxation is necessary for all the things you might need like hospitalisation if you have a heart attack or looking after in you old age or your childrens education. he money has got to come from somewhere. I am on all sorts of medication and must be costing the genuine taxpayers a lot of money. From the tone of your post I take it you make very little profit if any. You dont need an accountant. Just keep a record of your outgoings and income just in case HMRC want to see them. It would be very easy to show you are making no proft. There are some big players out there and it is those the HMRC are after.

[ojread2]

You don't need an accountant
I used HMRC directly - even sat in their offices to do my tax returns :)
It might be worth while calling your local tax office and asking to speak to an advisor. They really are very helpful

[Thunderchild]

@johny, indeed our services have to come from somewhere. Unfortunately the rich in our government don't like paying tax, and where i may be evading under £50 a year they evade millions but then we get treated like rascals, I'm sure it is the big players they are after, I'm sure many use things like ebay to sell and don't declare it and are making big time. Yes maybe i should start keeping records it would at least help me get an idea of what i do make and help me make plans.

To put it bluntly the amount I evade probably just covers money i spend in petrol etc doing charity work but I guess our BS politicians would not like to see it that way - what goes around comes around as they say. or should it be what comes around goes around.

[Thunderchild]

@ojread2 sounds like a good idea, thing is I'm not sure where to turn for good advice without asking the very people that might be after getting me.... I guess I can risk calling them.

[ojread2]

lol, they aren't 'out to get you'
What they will be able to do is advise you correctly so they dont have to get you ;-)

But make sure, until then, you keep everything. Remember eBay listings disappear after 3 months so you should keep a copy of that alongside the print out of payment received. Keeping them in monthly folders will make things easier as well

[EDDIE51]

I buy and sell vintage photographic items on ebay and make a few £s .
I do at most 20 transactions a month. There are ebay private sellers I personally know who do 300 and more transactions a month but have never had a problem with tax. So unless you are in the 100s of sales a month league i would not worry. There are literally 10s of millions of ebayers and the tax people can only look at the 'big boys'

[buildersmate]

Really good advice from both the above, so I won't repeat it.
The background to this is that HMRC know that lots of people are trading using eBay and many are not declaring the net income (gross income minus direct expenses of doing the business). That is all you need to record. Sounds like the 'answer' you should be able to demonstrate is pretty close to zero net income. Just don't be too 'ambitious' with your expenses, or HMRC will enquire further. However running the car down to the PO to post a parcel at 45p per mile sounds the sort of thing you should be recording as an expense. It soon adds up.
You are self-employed in this role, and would need to complete an SA tax return showing these numbers. Relatively simple admin, and no costs incurred for an accountant.

[Thunderchild]

Yes I only make a few sales a month, on average one or less a day, I've seen a small peak as the postage went up probably because I have not changed my postage costs yet. I make about 20p - £1 per transaction i guess. eBay did decide to make me a business account because i had a peak in sales over one christmas although a lot of it was personal stuff i sold. This is a pain because it gives buyers more power to mess me about (some know the rules very very well but I'm also happy to tell micky takers to get stuffed and eBay can pick the bones out of it for all i care).

I do now have another "personal" account I use for my personal stuff and my dads stuff he is getting out of the loft but ebay now limit you to 100 items, there is talk of the limit going up but I think they are trying to tow the line with HMRC as well.

[Skyline D]

As others have said, you are certainly trading but not to sufficient extent for HMRC to actually care much even if they did look at you. If you earn enough elsewhere to pay tax then it's taxable and profits (after deducting the sort of expenses buildersmate refers to) should be taxed. You could incorporate but at your levels that's pointless. You can see an accountant, it's unlikely by the sound of it that you'd pay more than £100 per annum to one, but again, as others have said, you don't really need to. It's so simple you could do it yourself and the HMRC staff will guide you through doing so if you want.

In reality though if you ignore it's unlikely anyone will ever care.

[Thunderchild]

I think I will keep records as of the start of the month and then go register see what they say. I do have further plans like making and selling projects and making myself available to assemble cables and looms and hopefully make it more than a hobby but something that earns me some propper money