Main audit, tax and enterprise advisory agency Blick Rothenberg has warned that eBay sellers and different on-line merchants might face substantial tax calls for in the event that they fail to register for self-assessment by year-end.
Below the brand new reporting guidelines, platforms equivalent to eBay should present HMRC with particulars of sellers who use their providers in 2024—studies that have to be submitted by 31 January 2025.
Fiona Fernie, a Companion at Blick Rothenberg, mentioned: “Now that winter is here, we are well over halfway through the first year of the online sales platform reporting regulations. HMRC will compare reported seller income with self-assessment records, so anyone not declaring income could face significant penalties of between 20% and 70% of the tax owed—plus interest.”
The deadline for registering for self-assessment for buying and selling revenue within the 2023/24 tax yr was formally 5 October 2024. Nonetheless, Fernie says that sellers who’ve missed that date ought to nonetheless come ahead: “It’s unlikely there will be adverse repercussions if they file their tax returns by 31 January 2025.” Failure to inform HMRC of a tax legal responsibility makes it “extremely easy” for HMRC to establish discrepancies, particularly given the brand new reporting regime.
Small-scale sellers receiving gross buying and selling receipts beneath £1,000 in a tax yr profit from a buying and selling allowance, although they have to nonetheless embrace their revenue on their tax return. These incomes greater than £1,000 ought to search skilled recommendation to find out whether or not they’re working a commerce or responsible for capital positive factors as a substitute.
