Overview
- Casual sales of personal belongings are usually tax-free, but a single item or a set sold for more than £6,000 may need to be reported for Capital Gains Tax.
- People who earned over £1,000 from side hustles in the 2024–25 tax year must register for Self Assessment and file and pay by 31 January 2026.
- Income from this Christmas falls into the 2025–26 tax year and should be declared by the end of January 2027 if it exceeds the £1,000 allowance.
- HMRC treats buying to resell, making goods to sell, or offering services via digital platforms as trading when total income from these activities exceeds £1,000 before expenses.
- Online marketplaces must share information with HMRC when users sell 30 or more items in a year, though data sharing alone does not create a tax bill, and sellers can use GOV.UK tools and the HMRC app to check obligations.