Paying tax on the sale of personal items on eBay.

[LBGBLO]

Hi,

In the near future I am looking to sell a large collection of mine that has been built over the last 10 years. I do not re-call what all these items original purchase prices were and they were not brought for investment or trading purchases.
I would be selling this items on eBay and I expect the sale of these items will be over a period of many years due to the quantity of these items and may total a few thousand pounds per year, but not all of this income would be profit as the items originally cost me money. All of my personal tax allowance would be used up via employment earnings.
Would I have to register for self-employment when selling these items; if this is the case, how would I work out the profit as I have no proof or evidence of what the items originally cost as many of which were brought second hand, would estimates need to be used?

I have also heard that I could use capital gains exemption, would this be possible?

Thank you.

[King_Maker]

Probably CGT rather than IT.

Annual CGT exemption is £10,900 for 2013-14.

[LBGBLO]

Probably CGT rather than IT.

Annual CGT exemption is £10,900 for 2013-14.

Thank you for your reply.

How do I apply for this exemption and how do I record it? What evidence do I need to show.

Lets say in a year I sell £4500, all of this would not be 'profit' but would this amount need to be stated?

Thank you.

[King_Maker]

Probably CGT rather than IT.

Annual CGT exemption is £10,900 for 2013-14.

Thank you for your reply.

How do I apply for this exemption and how do I record it? What evidence do I need to show.

Lets say in a year I sell £4500, all of this would not be 'profit' but would this amount need to be stated?

Thank you.

If the sales' proceeds are less than (say) £10,900, the profit has to be than the current CGT limit - so does not have to be reported to HMRC.

I suggest you maintain good records for all sales - in case HMRC come a-callin'.

[LBGBLO]

Probably CGT rather than IT.

Annual CGT exemption is £10,900 for 2013-14.

Thank you for your reply.

How do I apply for this exemption and how do I record it? What evidence do I need to show.

Lets say in a year I sell £4500, all of this would not be 'profit' but would this amount need to be stated?

Thank you.

If the sales' proceeds are less than (say) £10,900, the profit has to be than the current CGT limit - so does not have to be reported to HMRC.

I suggest you maintain good records for all sales - in case HMRC come a-callin'.

Thank you again for your reply. Surely there has to be some sort of form to fill out to apply for this CGT; with the amount that I have made.

What if HMRC were to check my eBay account with the prior example of £4500 made during the year, they may think that this is undeclared income etc.?

Thank you.

[King_Maker]

Based on the current exemption (and assuming no other CGT disposals during the year), you could sell (at least) £10,900 p.a. without any CGT liability.

There is no need to report anything to HMRC, if there is no CGT liability and the proceeds are less than 4x the Annual Exemption (£43,600).

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/intro/report-gain.htm

There is nothing to prevent you from either entering a summary on your SA Return under Any Other Information (page 7), or complete the supplementary CGT pages.

[Nahameb]

Hi, I'm new here but my query is similar to this thread.
I have a very large (over 1000) collection of fairly low value vintage items (probably worth an average of £5-£7 each) which I am down-sizing by selling online. As a bit of a control freak I have always kept a catalogue of the items (description, colour etc) and have the original cost in most cases.
I understand the point about using my CGT as suggested above and that sounds great. However, when I went to the link helpfully posted above, I got the impression that only high value items are classified as CG?
I have also started buying the odd vintage items specifically to sell on if I see a bargain! Again we're talking very low sums. I am keeping a record of everything, whether it's from my collection or a 'buy to sell' item. Also of the expenses (lots on postage, packaging and listing and auction fees).
I should be grateful for clarification on the CGT aspect, please?
I would also be very interested to hear how others in a similar position manage their finances and records.
Thank you!