Do I owe tax on my online sales?
Sold on Vinted, eBay, Etsy or Depop this year and can't tell whether HMRC wants a tax return from you? Answer a few plain questions and find out.
- Free — no sign-up
- About two minutes
- Nothing you type leaves your browser
You don't need to file a tax return for this
- You were selling your own possessions, which isn't trading.
- Nothing you sold went over the £6,000 single-item limit.
The short answer, before you start
Most people who find this page don't owe anything. Selling your own unwanted possessions — the clothes that no longer fit, the pushchair the baby outgrew, a phone you replaced — is not trading, and it is normally not taxable no matter how much it comes to. There is no threshold you can accidentally cross by having a thorough clear-out.
What changes the answer is what you were doing, not how much you made. Buying stock specifically to sell on, buying in bulk, making things to sell, or selling regularly and deliberately for profit is trading. If you were trading and your gross income from it — what buyers paid you, before postage, fees and costs — came to more than the £1,000 trading allowance , HMRC needs a Self Assessment return from you.
The awkward part is that most people are somewhere in between, and the rules are written for HMRC rather than for you. That's what the checker is for: it asks about the things HMRC actually weighs up, and gives you a specific verdict instead of a general rule.
How it works
Answer a few questions
Which tax year, where you sold, and — the part that decides it — how you came by the things you sold.
Get your verdict, free
A straight answer, with the reasoning set out so you can see why, and the deadlines that apply to you.
Get the report, if you need it
Optional, £24, and only offered when your verdict is that you actually have to file.
What's in the £24 report
Knowing you have to file is the easy half. The report is the other half — a PDF you can keep, emailed to you and downloadable, that turns your answers into the figures HMRC is asking for:
- A box-by-box table for the SA103S short self-employment pages — box 1, box 9, box 10.1, box 21, box 28 and box 31 — with the figure that goes in each one.
- An estimate of the income tax and Class 4 National Insurance you're likely to owe.
- Your registration, filing and payment deadlines as actual dates, not rules to work out.
- A plain-English walkthrough of what to do next, in order.
You only see the offer if your verdict is that you need to file. If you don't, there's nothing to buy and we won't pretend otherwise.
Where do you sell?
Each platform has its own quirks — what it reports to HMRC, what it exports, and the kind of selling it attracts.
Guides
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay tax on things I sell online?
It depends on what you were doing, not on how much you made. Selling your own unwanted possessions — clothes, furniture, old phones — is not trading, and is normally not taxable however much it adds up to. Buying things specifically to sell on, making things to sell, or selling regularly with a view to profit is trading, and trading income above the £1,000 trading allowance has to be reported to HMRC.
I've had a letter from HMRC about my online sales. What does it mean?
It usually means a platform reported your seller details to HMRC and the figures looked worth a question. A letter is not a bill and not an accusation. Work out honestly whether what you were doing counts as trading, then reply — the worst thing you can do is ignore it. There's a full guide to those letters on this site.
Does being reported by Vinted or eBay mean I owe tax?
No. Digital platforms have had to report sellers who pass a threshold — roughly 30 sales or about £1,700 in a year — since the 2024 calendar year. That threshold is about reporting, not about tax. Plenty of people pass it every year with a big wardrobe clear-out and owe nothing, because selling your own possessions isn't trading.
What is the £1,000 trading allowance?
It's a flat allowance that lets you earn up to £1,000 of gross trading income in a tax year without reporting it. Gross means before costs, postage and platform fees — it's what your buyers paid you, not what landed in your bank. Go over it and you need to register for Self Assessment, even if your profit after costs is small.
Is this free?
The verdict is free and always will be. If it tells you that you need to file, you can buy a £24 report that shows which SA103S boxes to fill in and what figure goes in each one. You never have to buy anything to get your answer.
Do you see what I type?
No. The whole checker runs in your browser. Your answers are worked out on your own device and stored only in that browser so you can come back to them. Nothing is sent to us, and there's no account to create.
Find out where you stand
Two minutes, a straight answer, and nothing to sign up for.
Do I Owe Tax is a free checker, not an accountant. This is guidance, not tax advice.