Selling on Vinted or eBay? When your UK side hustle becomes taxable
Clearing out your wardrobe, buying stock to resell or earning money from weekend services? A payment arriving in your bank account does not, on its own, tell you whether tax is due. What matters is how you earned it. This guide is for individuals in the UK, with rules checked on 21 October 2026.
1. Selling your belongings or running a trade?
Selling your own unwanted clothes and household belongings will usually not create an Income Tax bill. Buying goods to resell at a profit, or making items to sell, can be trading. A personal possession, or certain sets of items, sold for more than £6,000 may need a separate Capital Gains Tax check.
2. The £1,000 test is before expenses
There is one annual trading allowance across your relevant activities, not a separate allowance for every app. For example, £700 from goods bought for resale plus £500 from gardening services totals £1,200 before expenses. You should not assume you are below the threshold simply because each activity earned less than £1,000.
3. Trading allowance or actual expenses?
Gross trading income above £1,000 generally means registering for Self Assessment. If eligible, you can deduct the trading allowance or allowable actual expenses when calculating profit, but cannot claim both together. Exceptions apply, including income from your employer or a company you control. Needing to declare income does not, by itself, determine your final tax bill.
4. Does a platform report mean you owe tax?
No. A platform sharing your details does not automatically create a tax liability. For goods sales, the reporting exclusion requires both fewer than 30 sales and less than €2,000 received in a calendar year. That is a platform-reporting rule, not your tax-free trading allowance. The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, so platform totals may need to be reorganised.
5. Which deadline matters now?
For 2025/26, the normal online return and tax payment deadline is 31 January 2027. If you needed to notify HMRC for the first time, the 5 October registration deadline has passed: put this right promptly. For late registration, follow the filing deadline in HMRC’s notice; the payment deadline remains 31 January.
Turn a confusing pile of transactions into a clear plan
Before speaking to an accountant, write down what you sell or which services you provide. Bring your sales statements and expense records, and separately identify sales of personal belongings. This gives the discussion a useful starting point and helps avoid treating every bank payment as the same kind of income.
Contact ZipTax to discuss your extra income and Self Assessment position. A consultation can focus on whether you need a return, which records are missing and what you should do next.
