Selling & tax

Tax & reporting, in plain English

A report is not a tax bill. Selling your own used kit usually isn't taxable at all.

UK law requires online marketplaces to report seller totals to HMRC once a seller passes a volume threshold. If you ever receive a letter or a notice about it, this page explains what it means - and what it does not mean.

First, the reassurance

If you are an individual selling your own used kit or leftover material - the plotter that outlived your workshop, the part roll from a colour change - you almost certainly owe no tax on the sale. HMRC does not treat selling your own possessions as income. There is no new “side hustle tax”: the 2024 rule change made marketplace reporting mandatory, it did not create any new tax.

Capital gains tax only enters the picture if a single item sells for more than £6,000 - rare territory for offcuts and second-hand tools. And reporting is a separate thing from owing: a report totals up the money you received, it does not decide whether any of it is taxable.

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A report is visibility, not a verdict. It says money moved - not that tax is owed.
The one thing to remember

Why marketplaces report at all

The UK adopted the OECD rules for digital platforms in January 2024. They switch on at a volume threshold - below it, nothing happens at all.

HMRC platform reporting

Once you pass roughly 30 sales or about £1,700 in a year, we are required to report your yearly totals to HMRC (and give you a copy). Below that, nothing is reported. The report is your gross totals - it does not deduct what the items cost you, and it is not a tax demand.

Trading vs. selling your own things

HMRC’s test is whether you are trading - buying stock in order to resell it - or simply selling things you own. Clearing out your own surplus and used kit is not trading. If you do trade, a £1,000 trading allowance applies before any income needs declaring at all.

Business sellers: nothing is taxed twice

If you sell surplus stock through your business, the sale is business income - but you already put the purchase through your books as a cost. Buy a roll for £100, expense it, sell the leftover half here for £40: across the two entries your books show a £60 loss on that roll, which reduces your tax. Tax only ever lands on overall profit, so recovering value from surplus never taxes the same money twice.

VAT nets out the same way: a VAT-registered seller charges VAT on the sale but reclaimed the VAT paid on the original purchase - only the value added is ever taxed. Private sellers charge no VAT at all.

What we do - and what we never do

We do

  • Report your yearly totals to HMRC only once the threshold is crossed - and give you a copy.
  • Keep your sales history and yearly totals visible to you in My Sales, so a report never contains a surprise.
  • Tell you before anything about you is reported or disclosed.

We never

  • Deduct or withhold tax from your sales - what a buyer pays you is yours, minus only the fees shown at listing time.
  • Send you a tax bill, or decide whether your sales are taxable - only your own return does that.
  • Share your details with anyone beyond what the reporting laws specifically require.

Check the source

Don’t take our word for it - the rules above are published by the authorities themselves:

This page is a plain-English guide, not tax or legal advice - everyone’s circumstances differ, and thresholds change. If you sell in volume or you’re unsure whether you’re trading, a quick conversation with an accountant is worth far more than any web page. Questions about a report or a request from us? Contact us any time via Messages or the in-app assistant.