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stuff i sell
 

this is not whether or how to pay tax question so do not delete,

just askin when you fill tax return and report, do they ever look or ask what you sell? I am talking about very little income but just over threshold.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Do you plan to do your own taxes or have a professional do it for you?

Re: stuff i sell
 

just do it myself for now.

an experience out there?

Re: stuff i sell
 

Just get some affordable software like Quicken or so - most of the time (again I wont say never) but low sales are unlikely to be audited - just be smart about it

Re: stuff i sell
 

how smart you mean? I just want to know if anyone with low sales ever got asked what goods are or to give user id or transactions from paypal etc - this is what I meaning.

Re: stuff i sell
 

I've never been asked any of those questions by the taxman or been asked to show user ID or transactions from PayPal, etc. not since 2001 when I started a business. I have low sales to deliberately keep below the threshold (and I don't need a lot of money so it suits me fine). I got caught out once and owed £700 - never again.

Re: stuff i sell
 

How did you not pay the tax as its shown on the end of year accounts., or did you just forget?

Re: stuff i sell
 

I didn't have it in my pocket! I'd got into some debt and was skint. Luckily the taxman let me pay in installments of £70.00 a month. What pissed me off was that after I had payed off the debt I then very quickly got a bill for the next year. When self-employed the taxman "decides" how much profit you will make the following year and bills you accordingly, they tax you on money you haven't made yet. So I payed the next £700 and then got it back a few months after I had paid the last installment!

Re: stuff i sell
 

I would also, out of curiosity, like to know the answer to this question.

In the USA, on our tax forms, we just report gross sales and categorize our expenses, ending up with line items like:

• Gross Sales
• Cost of Merchandise Sold
• Avdertising
• Rent
• Office Supplies
• Postage
• etc, etc.

BUT: If you get audited, they COULD, if they wanted to, demand that you show them each transaction. That could include a description of what was sold. This almost never happens, but you should be aware that it COULD come up.

I have no idea what the rules are in the UK, but would love to know, just for my own edification.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Agree somewhat - time to get the professional advice in order and get into sales properly and to the cent

Re: stuff i sell
 

My worry is that if they want details, then PayPal invoices have a stealth name and are for ⊗⊗⊗⊗ products.

What do our big sellers do?

Re: stuff i sell
 

Can you upgrade to a business account? That is normally how we handle it in the USA. eBay never seems to get the information on the business here, but to the IRS it would look totally normal.

Re: stuff i sell
 

All my ebay and paypals are business accounts - I thought that was the norm.

At the mo on my books I just write john smiths discounts and £200 income. No paperwork or anything else to suggest what john smiths discounts is, but if I got audited I'm guessing they'd want proof of incomings not just expenditures.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Big sellers have tax professional advice.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Lol good point

Re: stuff i sell
 

yeh jeffweico has a point about they 'could' ask, make me wonder if safer NOT to declare it.

any experience of this? I mean not declaring it, not talking huge amounts eg maybe 4000 over

Re: stuff i sell
 

Safer not to declare income to the Revenue?

Definitely not!

If anyone is worried about stuff like this they should get an accountant or tax advisor.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Yeah always remember to pay your taxes!

Re: stuff i sell
 

This sounds like your selling phakes. If that is so then taxes may well be the least of the worries in the long term.

Re: stuff i sell
 

Reminds me of the time a copper knocked on my door about a theft from my car. Without thinking I let him in and then prayed for the next thirty minutes he wouldn't say anything about the packs of ⊗⊗⊗⊗ designer clothing that were in plain view.

I'm glad to say that selling ⊗⊗⊗⊗ gear is a long way behind me. It's just not worth it.

Re: stuff i sell
 

...fashion police... /nod

Re: stuff i sell
 

A lot depends if you operate as a sole trader or a business(for example Ltd). Rules for sole traders are much more relaxed compared to limited companies (Ltd). If you told hmrc that you are trading they will send you a tax self-assessment form to fill. If you haven't told them and you are only making 4k and a bit more annually operating as a sole trader you are very unlikely to get this form. Unless someone will inform hmrc that this person is trading and not declaring all income. If you get contact from hmrc you will not get any fines, you will have to fill tax self-assessment form. Then you MUST fill it in and send back to them..

Regarding asking for records it is very unlikely they will ask for invoices for a sole trader. When you declare your income and expenses to show tax liability for a financial year, and if it not look right to them, they might ask you to provide your trading records. Please read the link below about fines for not keeping adequate records:
HM Revenue & Customs: Business records checks

The best would be to talk to an accountant about what you do. There is a very big difference if you talk to someone you pay for a consultation and someone you might know, who is not interested to make money out of you.

In conclusion I will say that everyone must declare their income and pay their taxes. :)

Re: stuff i sell
 

John11uk has pretty much have it covered so I will try not to repeat what he has said...

I did have a nice chat with HMRC when I had registered for VAT and at this point its just been honest and straight forward with them. They wont need specifics but they might ask questions such as do you import and from where and what type of business you run, what sort of goods etc. Again, as long as you keep your receipts and good records you will be fine.

My advise is to get an online account with HMRC (government gateway login) which allows you to build up your dashboard of taxs etc and VAT (if you register). Its useful and quite easy to navigate and allows me to submit my VAT and Self Assessments on-line and pay any dues. My accountancy package I get free with my business bank account also works out self assessment and VAT submissions so now I use this to do all the work for me and all I do is just quickly check it though and submit it all with just a click of a mouse button.

Re: stuff i sell
 

I was just talking about this issue on another thread, re real surname on paypal accs in case of getting asked for sales history....has anyone ever been asked to show their actual transactions or paypal acc print outs.....I mean right now they just get given money in and money out and that is it...what sort of records do you guys keep??.

Re: stuff i sell
 

^^^^ommpa that is what i wanna know too, do they ask for itemize sales and what you selling.