Side Hustles | Online Sellers
HMRC Knows About Your Vinted and eBay Sales: The Platform Reporting Rules in 2026
The message lands in your inbox: the platform needs your National Insurance number. Or worse, a brown envelope arrives from HMRC mentioning your online selling. Both are products of the same rule change, and neither necessarily means you owe a penny. Here is exactly what platforms now tell HMRC, who gets reported, and what to do about it.
The short version: since January 2024, platforms must report any seller who passes 30 sales or roughly £1,700 (€2,000) in a calendar year. Being reported is not the same as owing tax.
Which Platforms Report, and When
The rules cover effectively every digital platform where you sell goods or services: Vinted, eBay, Etsy, Depop, Amazon Marketplace, Airbnb, Uber, Deliveroo, TaskRabbit, and the rest. Each January, platforms send HMRC their data for the previous calendar year, so sales made in 2025 were reported by 31 January 2026. The platform must also send you a copy of what it reported, which is worth keeping with your tax records.
The Thresholds: 30 Sales or About £1,700
A platform reports you if, in a calendar year, you complete 30 or more sales or your gross takings exceed €2,000, roughly £1,700. Cross either line and the platform is legally required to collect your National Insurance number and pass your details to HMRC. That is why Vinted suddenly asks for your NI number mid-year: you tripped a threshold.
What Gets Shared
- Your name, address and date of birth
- Your National Insurance number
- Number of transactions and gross income for the year
- Fees the platform deducted, and the bank account paid into
Reported Does Not Mean Taxed
This is the point most coverage gets wrong. The reporting thresholds are about data, not tax. The tax rules have not changed: selling your own second-hand belongings is not trading and is not taxable, however many sales you make. A student selling 45 items of outgrown clothing will be reported, and owes nothing.
Tax enters the picture when you are trading, buying or making things to sell, and your gross trading income passes the £1,000 trading allowance in a tax year. The full rules, including the worked numbers, are in our guide to side hustle tax and the £1,000 rule.
The Nudge Letter: What It Means and What to Do
HMRC matches platform data against tax records. Where someone looks like a trader with no Self Assessment record, it sends a nudge letter: not an investigation, but an invitation to put things right before it becomes one. If you receive one:
- Do not ignore it. HMRC wrote because it already has data. Silence pushes the case towards enquiry.
- Work out honestly which side of the line you are on. Decluttering: reply explaining that, job done. Trading: register and disclose.
- If you owe for past years, disclose voluntarily. Penalties are calculated partly on cooperation, and prompted-but-cooperative is still far better than dug-in.
- Get the figures right before responding. Platform statements plus bank records usually reconstruct everything needed, and proper expense claims often shrink the bill substantially.
eBay reseller: nudge letter to settled in eight weeks
Client D had flipped refurbished phones on eBay for two years, around £6,500 a year in sales, without registering. The HMRC letter arrived in March. We reconstructed his figures from eBay and PayPal statements, claimed his stock costs, postage and packaging, registered him for Self Assessment and disclosed both years.
The tax and penalties came in at a little over £1,400 in total, with HMRC accepting the disclosure without further questions. Eight weeks from letter to closure, and he kept trading throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does 30 sales on Vinted mean I owe tax?
No. The 30-sales threshold only decides whether the platform reports your activity to HMRC. Whether you owe tax depends on whether you were trading (buying or making to sell) and whether your gross trading income passed £1,000 in the tax year.
What information does Vinted or eBay actually send HMRC?
Your name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number (which the platform will ask you for), the number of sales you made, your gross income and any fees deducted. You receive a copy of what was reported each January.
I got an HMRC letter about my online selling. Should I ignore it?
No. Nudge letters are based on data HMRC already holds, and ignoring one makes any later settlement worse. Work out whether you were trading, and either reply explaining why no tax is due or make a disclosure. An accountant can handle both.
I only sell my own old stuff. Can HMRC still get my data?
Yes, if you pass 30 sales or about £1,700 in a calendar year the platform must report you, even if you are just decluttering. But being reported does not mean you owe anything: selling your own possessions is not taxable trading.
Had a nudge letter, or worried one is coming?
At Your Tax Help Accountants in Stanmore, we handle HMRC nudge letters and disclosures for online sellers across the UK. We work out whether you were actually trading, what (if anything) you owe, and deal with HMRC for you. Fixed fee, no judgement.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk | yourtaxhelp.co.uk
General guidance only. Not personal tax advice. Contact us for advice specific to your situation. All figures are for the 2026/27 tax year unless otherwise stated.