Ebay Tax

[Tom_UK]

I started selling on ebay as a hobby couple of year back. Sales were vary low at the beginnig . I did this “On” and “Off” basis. But from last year , sales were very high although profit was very low. I contacted accountant to register a self trader and pay tax . The fee of accountant for self assessment from the back dated till today make no sense for me as profit was very low. And on top of that I am also scared of penalty imposed by HMRC.

I am planning to open a new ebay and PayPal account while registering as Sole trader from day one. My concern is will HMRC caught my previous sales of history on ebay and PayPal? Please advice.

[yellowprintdirect]

That only happens if you are chosen to be investigated which is rare plus you have a accountant which also makes it even rarer to be investigated.. unless your turnover was 6 figs I wouldn’t worry

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by Tom_UK

I started selling on ebay as a hobby couple of year back. Sales were vary low at the beginnig . I did this “On” and “Off” basis. But from last year , sales were very high although profit was very low. I contacted accountant to register a self trader and pay tax . The fee of accountant for self assessment from the back dated till today make no sense for me as profit was very low. And on top of that I am also scared of penalty imposed by HMRC.

I am planning to open a new ebay and PayPal account while registering as Sole trader from day one. My concern is will HMRC caught my previous sales of history on ebay and PayPal? Please advice.

If he charges you more than £300 as a sole trader, change your accountant.
If you've made over £85,000 gross but made little profit, immediately go LTD. Your corporation tax and NI should be under £500 and your accounting fees should be around £700 at entry-level.
If you have to expend up to or more than £1500 when you've made little or no profit after taking in £85k or more, break up with him as you would a clingy lover.

Go on People per hour and find an accountant that can save you money within the confines of what the law allows.

[Tom_UK]

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Welcome.

Did you declare your earlier earnings to HMRC because if you did, it will be very easy to link you because all sole traders income streams are linked via their National Insurance number.

If the accountant didn't submit any details to them then you should be fine, you would be unlucky for them to catch up with you, particularly if you're going to effectively bin the old account.

I haven't given my National Insurance no. to the accountant.Hopefully they haven't submit my detail to HMRC. Haven't heard anything from HMRC as the visit to accountant was made on 2nd of Dec 2019.

[james_112233]

It's a lottery. If you are chosen for investigation you have something to worry about.

Until then, do everything right from today. I was in a similar situation to you many years ago but these days I sleep like a baby as my accountant set everything up for me to keep records / file taxes correctly.

If you notice your business taking off it's always best to find a local accountant to help you out. As somebody said above the chances of you being investigated become even lower as you have an official person handling your taxes.