eBay income (private seller) on self assessment form

[whizkid]

I'll be completing the self assessment form and I am confused as to where and what to put for my eBay income. This is my first time doing it.


Here are the details:

I have a full time job earning roughly £35,000 and registered as a private seller on eBay. Over the course of the year, I've bought new phones, laptops, really expensive gadgets- I used some electronics and sold some of them immediately back on eBay, not to mention my some of my own personal belongings. Other than my job and eBay, there is no other income.

So, for the year:

Total from eBay Sales= £21,550

Total Cost of Items (i.e. Purchase Price) = £18,580

Total Fees Paid (Postage & Packaging, eBay Fees, Paypal, Postage) = £1300

Profit Leftover = £1670



Questions:

Please can someone help me with the following questions:

1. On the self assessment form, I presume the answer to this question, "Did you receive any other UK income, for example, employment lump sums..." is YES?
   1. If No, which question do I answer as YES?
2. On the self assessment form, do I put the Profit amount as-is £1670 or "Profit Amount - Trading Allowance" £1670 - £1000 = £670? Or something else?
   1. I've been reading conflicting information on the internet, some say you need to put total sales, some say only your profit?
3. Where would I put this figure on the self assessment form?
   1. Other UK income, is it box 17 (on paper version) / Other UK Income (online version, Fill in your return > Other UK income > Any Other Income > Other UK Income)?
   2. Or Somewhere else, if so where?
4. In another scenario, say if the profit was only £500 for the whole year and I want to declare it for the sake of declaring it, where would I put the profit of £500 - form states “Other Taxable Income?” Keyword is taxable, my understanding is that profits are only taxable if it’s over £1000. So would I put £500 (for the sake of declaration)?

Hopefully this post benefits other users too.

Thanks all

 

[DWS]

You need to fill out both the Employment and Self-Employment pages on the tax return, your profits are above £1k so you cannot claim the trading allowance.

 

[whizkid]

Would I absolutely need to fill out self employment pages? eBay is not my primary income and never was, it just so happens that I made some money this year from selling.

Some of the things I owned went up in value due to inflation and user demand spikes. With that in mind, is filling in self employment pages required?

 

[DWS]

Would I absolutely need to fill out self employment pages? eBay is not my primary income and never was, it just so happens that I made some money this year from selling.

Some of the things I owned went up in value due to inflation and user demand spikes. With that in mind, is filling in self employment pages required?

The way you described it of ‘buying items and immediately selling on Ebay’ makes it sound like a business to me, it does not matter that it is not your primary business.

 

[NicoJ]

This is self employment. If you were just selling your own bits and bobs then you could class this as a hobby but you have actively purchased items with a view to making profits. HMRC would consider this a trade IMO (Google badges of trade).

Trading allowance is available to you but this replaces the expenses you have incurred so would make the profit £20k rather then £1.6k.

There would be no class 4 nic on this amount, but there would be class 2 and tax.

 

[whizkid]

Ok, Im now understanding the trade part. But how is the profit £20k, only £1670 went into my pocket. I thought only profits are taxed?

Example of an item I sold. If I bought an iPhone for £1200, and sold it at a later date for £1400, I only made around £150 profit (minus fees and postage). I didn’t make £1400 profit.

Are you saying that I have to pay income tax on whole £20k (sales)?+ That would leave me out of pocket quite a bit.

 

[NicoJ]

Ok, Im now understanding the trade part. But how is the profit £20k, only £1670 went into my pocket. I thought only profits are taxed?

Example of an item I sold. If I bought an iPhone for £1200, and sold it at a later date for £1400, I only made around £150 profit (minus fees and postage). I didn’t make £1400 profit.

Are you saying that I have to pay income tax on whole £20k (sales)?+ That would leave me out of pocket quite a bit.

Sorry if I was a little bit confusing on the last post.

Trading allowance which you mentioned in your earlier post is a £1000 deduction available against your profits. If you used it you would be unable to deduct any of your expenses, instead you would just have £1000 deducted from your income meaning a profit of £20k.

Not using the trading allowance and deducting the expenses gives you a profit of £1670.

So, I was basically saying don't use the trading allowance!

 

[DWS]

You can not claim the actual expenses as well as the trading allowance it’s one or the other!

 

[Newchodge]

I'll be completing the self assessment form and I am confused as to where and what to put for my eBay income. This is my first time doing it.


Here are the details:

I have a full time job earning roughly £35,000 and registered as a private seller on eBay. Over the course of the year, I've bought new phones, laptops, really expensive gadgets- I used some electronics and sold some of them immediately back on eBay, not to mention my some of my own personal belongings. Other than my job and eBay, there is no other income.

So, for the year:

Total from eBay Sales= £21,550

Total Cost of Items (i.e. Purchase Price) = £18,580

Total Fees Paid (Postage & Packaging, eBay Fees, Paypal, Postage) = £1300

Profit Leftover = £1670



Questions:

Please can someone help me with the following questions:

1. On the self assessment form, I presume the answer to this question, "Did you receive any other UK income, for example, employment lump sums..." is YES?
   1. If No, which question do I answer as YES?
2. On the self assessment form, do I put the Profit amount as-is £1670 or "Profit Amount - Trading Allowance" £1670 - £1000 = £670? Or something else?
   1. I've been reading conflicting information on the internet, some say you need to put total sales, some say only your profit?
3. Where would I put this figure on the self assessment form?
   1. Other UK income, is it box 17 (on paper version) / Other UK Income (online version, Fill in your return > Other UK income > Any Other Income > Other UK Income)?
   2. Or Somewhere else, if so where?
4. In another scenario, say if the profit was only £500 for the whole year and I want to declare it for the sake of declaring it, where would I put the profit of £500 - form states “Other Taxable Income?” Keyword is taxable, my understanding is that profits are only taxable if it’s over £1000. So would I put £500 (for the sake of declaration)?

Hopefully this post benefits other users too.

Thanks all

You said:

Over the course of the year, I've bought new phones, laptops, really expensive gadgets- I used some electronics and sold some of them immediately back on eBay

Does your total cost of items purchased (£18,580) include items that you bought and used yourself?

 

[whizkid]

No it doesn’t. Only items that I bought and then sold are included in that figure.

And another thing that I didn’t mention, most of these items were picked up from Gumtree and Facebook, I don’t have purchase receipts but obviously the eBay sales record are there.

There are some ad screenshots for some items but I don’t have purchase receipts for every item. Only the eBay sales record to prove I sold an item for X price. Is this going to be a problem?

 

[Newchodge]

No it doesn’t. Only items that I bought and then sold are included in that figure.

And another thing that I didn’t mention, most of these items were picked up from Gumtree and Facebook, I don’t have purchase receipts but obviously the eBay sales record are there.

There are some ad screenshots for some items but I don’t have purchase receipts for every item. Only the eBay sales record to prove I sold an item for X price. Is this going to be a problem?

Do you have records of the payments from your bank statements? That would be better than nothing.

 

[whizkid]

Only for some, most of them no. The sellers always prefer cash transactions.

 

[NicoJ]

I'll be completing the self assessment form and I am confused as to where and what to put for my eBay income. This is my first time doing it.


Here are the details:

I have a full time job earning roughly £35,000 and registered as a private seller on eBay. Over the course of the year, I've bought new phones, laptops, really expensive gadgets- I used some electronics and sold some of them immediately back on eBay, not to mention my some of my own personal belongings. Other than my job and eBay, there is no other income.

So, for the year:

Total from eBay Sales= £21,550

Total Cost of Items (i.e. Purchase Price) = £18,580

Total Fees Paid (Postage & Packaging, eBay Fees, Paypal, Postage) = £1300

Profit Leftover = £1670



Questions:

Please can someone help me with the following questions:

1. On the self assessment form, I presume the answer to this question, "Did you receive any other UK income, for example, employment lump sums..." is YES?
   1. If No, which question do I answer as YES?
2. On the self assessment form, do I put the Profit amount as-is £1670 or "Profit Amount - Trading Allowance" £1670 - £1000 = £670? Or something else?
   1. I've been reading conflicting information on the internet, some say you need to put total sales, some say only your profit?
3. Where would I put this figure on the self assessment form?
   1. Other UK income, is it box 17 (on paper version) / Other UK Income (online version, Fill in your return > Other UK income > Any Other Income > Other UK Income)?
   2. Or Somewhere else, if so where?
4. In another scenario, say if the profit was only £500 for the whole year and I want to declare it for the sake of declaring it, where would I put the profit of £500 - form states “Other Taxable Income?” Keyword is taxable, my understanding is that profits are only taxable if it’s over £1000. So would I put £500 (for the sake of declaration)?

Hopefully this post benefits other users too.

Thanks all

To answer the questions:
1. No, not for self employment income. You need to have picked the self employment page.
2. No - think we've answered this, you don't use the trading allowance. You put in your turnover and expenses and it will populate the profit for you.
3. Self assessment pages as noted above.
4. No, the £1000 limit is for turnover not profit. If you've made £500 profit but your turnover is over £1000 you will be taxed on £500 (assuming that's after expenses).

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

You may find it helpful to read through the HMRC guidance on completing the necessary section of your tax return here

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

These helpsheets may be useful too

How to calculate your taxable profits (Self Assessment helpsheet HS222)

Find out how to calculate your taxable profits.

www.gov.uk

 

[DontAsk]

You also need to register as self employed within a certain time limit (I forget what it is, but it's a lot longer than when I first started out) so that HMRC can bill you for NI payments.