tj Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 HiIf you sell on Ebay, as our unfortunate friend found to his cost, items which you have purchased for resale, then the tax people want to know.In his case an average of 235 sales per year, I think to any reasonable person constitutes trading! On the other hand he was caught by default, an item recognised as stolen was his downfall. What are the chances of that? who knows!I don't know what would prompt the authorities to investigate a person with this regard, unless as in this case a stolen item is reported!However, if they wanted to investigate you for illegal trading, it would be very easy to track you down. Broadband connections have static IP addresses, that means your internet log on address relates to your home address and when you post your package you generally are asked for ID and always have to complete a customs declaration. Just two simple ways they could catch you !Nice try, but frequently changing your ebay user name doesnt help:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Every eBay seller has to give their name, address, cc details at time of registration.Every eBay transaction (sale) is available for scrutiny by the tax authorities (English/French/US etc.)During a rather expensive run-in with a not very friendly UK tax inspector I was told the following :-"Sir, you sell an item on eBay - aquired 20 years ago, bought last week, inherited or found at the roadside - if I (tax inspector) think you placed that item on eBay to make a profit.......then I shall treat that profit as taxable income" Forget about capital gains etc. they class it as TRADING! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 TJI know you can be traced, I said as much, the point about changing identity is that you are less likely to become "visible" to those who might take an interest, than someone who for example has 550 sales in their profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herring_Brother Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 'scuse my ignorance on the subject, but if you're classed as a trader in France due to selling on ebay, does that mean that you're then liable for all the social charges etc? If this is the case, does anybody know what the level of these charges are? Is there a sliding scale of earnings etc etc.... I realise that this is a whole different can of worms that has probably been covered countless times before, but if anybody could give a quick summary?Thanks, HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 [quote user="George"]During a rather expensive run-in with a not very friendly UK tax inspector I was told the following :-"Sir, you sell an item on eBay - aquired 20 years ago, bought last week, inherited or found at the roadside - if I (tax inspector) think you placed that item on eBay to make a profit.......then I shall treat that profit as taxable income" Forget about capital gains etc. they class it as TRADING![/quote]If I was to sell items that I had bought new, then used them and later decided to sell them on ebay for a much lower price than I paid, this surely cannot be construed by any body as making a profit , can it?[8-)] Sorry to side step your post HB, just don't know the answer to that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Sorry Andy but that advice about identity changing is just plain daft, you don't use eBay much do you?.I would certainly not advocate changing your identity on eBay just in case you are thought to be a trader, that is just not how eBay works. I have a jealously guarded, 100% feedback and green star earned over three years and I'm not giving that up just in case a taxman may be watching, people with changed names and no feed back are treated with suspicion on eBay and that can also harm prices attained and the ability to bid on some items.I suspect that the rub here with this French guy is the stolen item and Les flicks just chucked in the tax thing for good measure. The French have a funny attitude to boot fairs as well, we can only have ytwo a year here, because they think tax is being avoided by traders who attend these affairs. I really would not worry about the tax implications of selling on EBay in France, it is no different to selling at a boot sale, I'm not worrying and neither are the millions of private individuals who buy and sell on Ebay worldwide. What I have found though is that using ebay France does improve your French, I have never had so many questions on one item than the first eBay France listing[:)]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 RonI probably know more about e-bay than you give me credit for.[:)] Since you are regularly trading on e-bay of course you want to maintain your sales credentialsCathy wants to get rid of some surplus bits and pieces, so starts with no sales record and will have sold the lot before she gets one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 >>>Cathy wants to get rid of some surplus bits and pieces, so starts with no sales record and will have sold the lot before she gets one.<<<My daughter sold a few of her old DVDs and handbags, she had a sales record within 2 days of the auction finishing ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted May 17, 2006 Author Share Posted May 17, 2006 I am really enjoying reading all your replies. I have cut and pasted the best ones to remind me what to do when I start "trading".I think that I am going to sell some things on Ebay UK and some on Ebay France.However, what things do you think will sell best on each? English things on Ebay France and French things on Ebay UK? [8-)] Or vice versa? [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 No Cathy, English terminology on Ebay UK and French terminology on eBay France. I sell though E bay UK for most of my stuff because it has a large UK market, but you can make items available to Europe and the USA through eBay UK anyway, so you will pick up interested European buyers whichever eBay you choose. I have only used eBay France for cars. P&P costs from France to the UK are not that bad but I warn buyers that the cost will be higher than within the UK.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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