Figures: 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Noman Abbasi, ACCA.
If you sell on Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Vinted or TikTok Shop, your take-home is not the money that lands in your account. Platform fees, the cost of your stock and your tax bill all come out first. This calculator works out what you actually keep as a sole-trader seller, after platform fees, cost of goods, income tax and National Insurance, using the 2026/27 rates.
How is an online seller's take-home worked out?
We follow the same order HMRC does:
- Net profit = your gross sales minus platform fees, the cost of goods sold and your other allowable costs (postage, packaging, software and so on).
- The £1,000 trading allowance. You can deduct either your actual costs or the flat £1,000 trading allowance, but never both. The allowance only helps if your total costs are under £1,000, which is usually the case for very small or casual sellers.
- Income tax on the profit, stacked on top of any other income you have. If you also have a job, your selling profit is taxed at your highest, marginal rate, not from scratch.
- Class 4 National Insurance on the profit above the threshold. Class 2 NIC is voluntary below the small-profits threshold, so we do not add it automatically.
Is this different from the e-commerce tax calculator?
Yes. Our e-commerce tax calculator is about your business's VAT position and which trading structure nets you most. This tool answers the seller's simpler question: after fees, stock and tax, what is left for me? Use whichever fits, or both.
Worked example
Say you sell £40,000 of goods, pay £6,000 in platform fees, £15,000 for stock and £2,000 in other costs. Your profit is £17,000. With no other income, your income tax is about £886 and your Class 4 NIC about £266, leaving roughly £15,848 in your pocket. If instead you had a £35,000 job and made £5,000 profit on the side, that £5,000 would be taxed at 20% (£1,000) because it sits on top of your salary, with no Class 4 NIC as it is below the threshold.
Do I need to register for VAT or Self Assessment?
Once your sales approach £90,000 in any rolling 12 months you may need to register for VAT, check the VAT registration threshold tracker. If you are a casual seller and are not sure you even need to tell HMRC yet, the side-hustle tax checker is the better starting point. Marketplaces now report seller data to HMRC, so it is worth getting this right. If you would like a person to handle your seller accounts and tax, book a free call.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out my take-home as an Amazon or Etsy seller?
Start with your gross sales, then subtract platform fees, the cost of goods sold and your other allowable costs to get your profit. You then pay income tax on that profit (stacked on any other income) and Class 4 National Insurance above the threshold. What is left is your take-home. This calculator does all of that for the 2026/27 tax year.
What is the £1,000 trading allowance for online sellers?
The trading allowance lets you deduct a flat £1,000 from your sales instead of your actual costs. You can use either the allowance or your real costs, never both. It only helps if your total costs are less than £1,000, which is typical for small or occasional sellers. If your sales are under £1,000 in total, you usually do not need to report the income at all.
Do I pay tax on selling my own second-hand items?
Selling your own used personal belongings at no profit is generally not taxable trading. Tax applies when you are trading, buying to resell, making items to sell, or providing a service. If that is you, use this calculator; if you are only clearing out personal items, you usually have nothing to report. The side-hustle tax checker can help you tell the difference.
Does this calculator handle limited company sellers?
Version 1 is built for sole-trader sellers. If you trade through a limited company the tax works differently (Corporation Tax plus how you extract profit as salary and dividends). We plan to add a company mode; in the meantime, book a call and we will run your company numbers.