If you’re in Australia, and have sold more then $20,000 AUD on eBay, then be prepared for a call from the tax man.
Australian Taxation Office have notified eBay that they intend to issue formal requests for information relating to sales by Australian eBay sellers. The data eBay will supply includes: Contact name; Address; Telephone number; Email and IP address; User ID; Date of birth; Date of registration on eBay; Monthly and annual sales volumes and value; Power seller status and eBay store status.
There will be no getting away from paying the correct tax in Australia so if you’re unsure if your affairs are in order then the best advice is to make sure they are before you get the call. eBay will hand the data over by the 1st of August.
It would be very interesting to see what would happen if the same occurred in the UK. Doubtless there are some smaller sellers who are unsure if they’re a business or a private individual, but would anyone selling more than £20,000 per year be in any doubt? eBay would probably already have insisted you register as a business seller, but that doesn’t ensure that you register with the tax man.
17 Responses
Splendid news. Roll it out in the UK immediately.
The UK tax authorities could not cope with the mountain of investigation work that would result. That is why the request from the UK tax man will never happen and why the eBay tax and benefits cheats have nothing to fear.
The UK tax man could force eBay UK to include a UK national insurance number or tax code number as part of the seller registration details.
The tax return form could then include a box where the total value of “private” online/car boot sales could be declared.
This could be tied in with an annual statement that eBay/Amazon submit to the tax authorities.
The tax man could then, depending on the level of “private” sales declared, decide whether there is a case worth persuing.
20.000 Aus dollars equates to just over £13.000 sterling. Its time IR did the same with Amazon and Ebay sellers and get them to pay back tax for the years they have been trading and not declaring turnover.
more bollocks
No need to get an accountant as the Taxman will do it all for you.
How about this bunch:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8592262/European-Parliament-refuses-to-release-MEP-secret-internal-audits.html
It’s not even as if they are spending their own money, it’s ours.
all this taxman this and taxman that does anyone know of a thread on any ebay board where a seller complains of a tax investigation via ebay or from using ebay