People who sell goods or services online are being targeting by the UK tax authority as it attempts to tighten the screws against tax evasion.
HMRC is looking not just at eBay, but also other sites such as Etsy, Amazon, and Gumtree.
A number of websites are being obliged to disclose customer account details, including selling activity.
Under far reaching new powers introduced last year, HMRC can download people’s account information and even force sellers to pay tax that is disputed or subject to an inquiry.
The Revenue has already sent 14,000 letters to traders suspected of running a business but not declaring it on their tax returns.
Any earnings above an individual’s tax-free personal allowance – £10,600 for the 2015‑16 tax year – are taxable if the money made is considered a business profit.
The previous campaign which ended in 2012 enabled HMRC to raise more than £9 million in tax from sellers. One man who operated a DVD and games business on eBay was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to pay near £300,000.
At the time, sellers were warned that some hobbies might be classified as “trade”, and subject to tax. If HMRC thinks the intent is to make money, rather than selling items for fun, the selling activity is considered to be a business.
If people do not respond to the HMRC letter, it will make its own calculations on tax it considers due and demand that it is paid sometimes immediately or other times within three months.
Comments
The link below is to Russian Government trolls in a 'troll factory'. Paid to place comment, however invented, both in their own language and country in their own city forums and, more worryingly for us, in foreign languages in foreign news websites and forums. Across the world.
Some of the Portuguese expat websites have, over recent years, been populated by alleged foreigners like us, claiming they are not Portuguese. Therefore with our problems. But who have a quite remarkable knowledge of the Portuguese language and Portuguese law. And a conviction that Portuguese law is connected directly to justice.
No mention of the 1 1/2 million aggrieved for whom having Portuguese law on their side did not help them. So having to waste years and lose additional tens of thousands chasing very uncertain results in Portuguese courts.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-ex-russian-internet-troll-lyudmila-savchuk-a-1036539.html
Additionally the UK also has an active culture of investigative journalism that amongst other things likes to root out Unfair Play and Inequality of Opportunity.
Remind ourselves that tackling Junckers appointment - and say FIFA corruption - could have been driven forward by only a few countries in the world. Just coincidentally english / germanic / scandinavian speaking.
But pushing for Fair Play / a.k.a Equality of Opportunity in the EU - is just one amongst many issues the less developed EU states are still distinctly wary of.
But something that became clear years ago with the anti-McCann trolls - was that these scum were using ISP (internet service provider) spoofing software to fool the place of origin of their lunacy. Re-directing through servers in other countries.
OK many were tracked down as UK or developed EU based and rightly shut down but this would still be an issue for HMRC if the trader was using 'deep net' onion router software. And a fake ID.
The real losses to the national exchequer are with the giants (like Vodafone and Amazon) who pay little tax in Britain by moving their profits to Luxembourg. And with non-doms, ie the very rich, who continue to live in Britain, but pretend that their domicile is in Monaco (like the Barclays and Rothermeres).
By all means make these ebay sellers pay their dues. But catch up with the major avoiders as well.
I pay tax on my income. Why shouldn't they?