Selling on eBay or Amazon - HMRC would like your tax - Business Works
BW brief

Selling on eBay or Amazon - HMRC would like your tax

Stephen Barratt, director at James Cowper If you or someone you know is earning a living from selling items through the likes of eBay and Amazon and have not ensured that your tax affairs are in order, HMRC is offering an option to ‘Buy it Now’.

Online resellers have until 14 June to own up to any money they owe after the taxman wrote to 32,000 traders it has in its sights earlier this month. Those who come forward now will have to pay a reduced penalty of 20% on the tax they haven’t paid.

Increasing the pressure, eBay has confirmed that it is handing over the names and full contact details of large numbers of traders to comply with an end of May deadline set by HMRC.

"Most occasional buyers and sellers are not affected, but HMRC’s campaign will undoubtedly be alarming for individuals who make their living through online reselling," said Stephen Barratt, private client director at accountants James Cowper. "Resellers who sell goods online as a trade or business and have not made full disclosures in respect of their income should consider making a voluntary disclosure to HMRC as a matter of urgency."

However, Stephen adds a note of caution, "We also recommend that those who believe they might owe tax seek advice from an accountant or tax adviser before approaching HMRC to make a disclosure so that matters are planned and dealt with in the best possible way."

The campaign is part of HMRC’s strategy to collect an additional £4 billion for the Treasury before April 2013.



For more information on James Cowper LLP, please visit: www.jamescowper.co.uk




Tweet article
BW on TwitterBW RSS feed