Your selling platform reports your sales to HMRC

1. Who gets reported

A platform reports you if, in a calendar year, you make 30 or more sales or receive €2,000 (about £1,700) or more. The first reports went to HMRC by 31 January 2025, covering 2024.

If you stay under both, that platform doesn't report you. The limits apply to each platform separately, so you could be under them on every site and still be over the £1,000 trading allowance in total. Not being reported doesn't mean you don't need to file.

2. Why the platform asked for your National Insurance number

To report you, the platform has to collect your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number (or Unique Taxpayer Reference if you have one). Being asked for these is standard, and on its own it doesn't mean HMRC is looking at you.

3. What HMRC receives

HMRC gets your details and the total paid to you on that platform for the year. That figure is after the platform's fees and commission, which are reported separately. The platform must send you a copy of what it reported. Keep it, because it helps if you need to file a return.

Two things to watch when you use that copy:

• It covers a calendar year (January to December). Tax works on the tax year (6 April to 5 April), so you'll need your own records to get the right period.
• It's not your gross sales. The trading allowance and the VAT threshold both use sales before fees, so add the fees back on.

Source: GOV.UK: Selling goods or services on a digital platform

4. Being reported doesn't mean you owe tax

The tax rules haven't changed, and HMRC has said so clearly. A report is information, not a bill.

• Selling your own unwanted things (a wardrobe clear-out, the loft): you're unlikely to owe any tax, even if you were reported.
• Trading (making or buying things to sell): the £1,000 trading allowance still applies. Over that, you need to register for Self Assessment. Our hobby or business guide explains the difference.

The report doesn't separate personal sales from trading. If you do both on the same account, it's up to you to show which is which, so keep notes of which items were personal.

5. If you get a letter from HMRC

1. Don't ignore it. Work out whether your sales were personal items or trading.
2. Check the platform's copy of what it reported against your own records.
3. If you were trading, went over £1,000 and didn't register, tell HMRC. Coming forward yourself, through HMRC's digital disclosure service, usually goes better than waiting to be asked. This is a good moment to talk to an accountant.