if i selling stuff on an auction site,will that call a job?

hi there...
i have been on my maternity leave sine june 2010 and i just cound't stay still at home so i start buying some stuff and sell them on internet..
its turn out to be a really good invest, my concern is do i need to pay tax for this? someone told me that if the hmrc tracked me down i need to pay for tax. but how will they track me?
best regard
jas

WANRAWIN wrote:i start buying some stuff and sell them on internet..

If you are buying in items, and then selling them hopefully at a profit, well that would amount to the conduct of a business.

WANRAWIN wrote:my concern is do i need to pay tax for this? someone told me that if the hmrc tracked me down i need to pay for tax.

The business must be registered with HMRC, and any taxes you are liable to pay must be paid.

WANRAWIN wrote:but how will they track me?

So you wish to deliberately break the law and figure out through others if and how you can do that? That they have their methods to track tax evaders - should be enough to answer your question.


regards

hi there, thank you for the reply
what i did on internet is buying second hand baby stuff from other mom in the group and sell it....im not register as a business..i sell an item on the private listing ... it would be like selling at carboot,would it?what i heard is if i reach some certain amount i need to classify that as an income, is that right>? but then how much?
best regard
jas

See also http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=61843

WANRAWIN wrote: what i did on internet is buying second hand baby stuff from other mom in the group and sell it....im not register as a business..i sell an item on the private listing ...
jas

You are worrying a lot about nothing really. As long as you dont plan to convert this short term interest into a multi-billion dollar industry, you dont need to bother. None of us on this forum can advice you to be a tax evader but honestly, just use common sense on this one - and stop worrying

KP

I second the last comment. Dont worry. It's not a business, just a hobby.
That would be like the neighbour boy doing odd jobs for the elderly for cash. Would we advise him to declare it?

If you sell the stuff to make profit you have to register yourself as self employed and pay NI contribution but if your income is less you can ask for a small earnings exemption and if your income is below a certain amount you don't need to pay tax anyway bust still have to be registered

I don't think that buying and selling second hand baby clothes make a lot of income as they are sold for very little on ebay and you also buy them yourself so depending on how many auctions you have weekly I would consider registering.

If the auctions are just a few and could be considered as just selling private stuff then just leave it but if you really have a lot on ebay all the time I would register just to be on the safe side

How much profit are you actually making from it? Usually if it's over $600, then you would need to report that and do taxes for them. But it sounds like it's just something small and doesn't seem like you're doing this in order to make a huge profit and make it into a business... so you should be fine.

thank you for all the replies...this website is really helpful

WANRAWIN wrote:hi there...
i have been on my maternity leave sine june 2010 and i just cound't stay still at home so i start buying some stuff and sell them on internet..
its turn out to be a really good invest, my concern is do i need to pay tax for this? someone told me that if the hmrc tracked me down i need to pay for tax. but how will they track me?
best regard
jas

you have to pay taxes for this, HMRC will not find out but some one can inform them or if you claiming benefit. they can track it down and inform the HMRC.

Just pay your taxes like every one. It's not that much if you earn little. you might not even have to pay if it's less than £7000 (not sure the correct amount but their is a minimum limit) just register with HMRC and do your work keep record of every thing.

you can do on-line and HMRC help link is really helpful and quick to answer.