Selling your own old clothes? Not taxable. Buying to resell? Probably is, and Vinted now reports you to HMRC.
An accountant for Vinted sellers turns the scary-sounding "HMRC has your sales data" letter into a five-minute non-event, or a clean tax return if you genuinely owe something. Since 1 January 2024 platforms like Vinted, eBay and Depop report sellers to HMRC, but selling your own wardrobe is usually tax-free, it's reselling for profit that counts as trading. We're ACCA-qualified, give you a named accountant, reply within 72 hours, and price it flat at £99, £199 or £499 so you know exactly what a Vinted side-hustle return costs before you commit.
From 1 January 2024 digital platforms collect and report seller data to HMRC, with the first reports due by 31 January 2025. Vinted will flag you to HMRC if you pass roughly 30 items sold or about £1,700 (€2,000) in a year. This is reporting, not a new tax, HMRC has stated nothing has changed about what is actually taxable. Getting the same letter as everyone else does not mean you owe anything.
Clearing out last year's wardrobe, outgrown kids' clothes or an unwanted gift is selling personal possessions, not trading. There is no income tax on it however many items you shift. Capital Gains Tax only bites if a single item (or matching set) sells for over £6,000, vanishingly rare on Vinted, so the typical declutter seller has nothing to report at all.
Buy to sell on, thrift-flip from charity shops, or make items to sell, and you are trading. The trading allowance gives you £1,000 of tax-free gross income per tax year across all side-hustles combined. Go over £1,000 and you must register for Self Assessment and declare it, even where, after expenses, no tax is actually due.
We quote £99, £199 or £499 up front with a 30-day money-back guarantee and rolling monthly terms, so a Vinted return never turns into an open-ended invoice. You get a named ACCA accountant who actually understands platform-reporting letters, not a call-centre ticket, and replies within 72 hours.
The whole question turns on whether you are trading. HMRC uses the 'badges of trade': did you buy intending to resell at a profit, do you do it repeatedly and systematically, do you make items to sell, and how short is the gap between buying and selling? Offloading your own possessions over time is investment-style disposal, not trade. Habitual buy-low-sell-high, even as a hobby, is trade. No single badge decides it; we weigh the overall picture and tell you honestly which side of the line you fall, because it determines whether you owe income tax at all.
If your gross Vinted (plus any other side-hustle) income for the tax year is £1,000 or less, you generally need do nothing and need not register. Over £1,000 you must tell HMRC. You then choose, each year, between deducting the flat £1,000 allowance or your actual expenses (postage, packaging, Vinted fees, mileage to the Post Office at 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles), whichever leaves less profit. We model both so you never overpay by defaulting to the wrong one.
Personal possessions are 'chattels'. A single item, or a matching set such as a pair of designer boots sold together, is exempt from CGT if it sells for £6,000 or less, which covers essentially all clothing resale. Above that, gains are tested against your £3,000 annual exempt amount. This matters if you sell a genuinely valuable handbag, watch or collectible: we work out whether it's a tax-free personal disposal, a chargeable gain, or in fact trading income, because the three are taxed very differently.
Once you cross £1,000 of trading income you register for Self Assessment by 5 October following the end of the tax year, file online by the next 31 January, and pay any tax then too. We handle the registration, the return, and the maths on payments on account if your bill is large enough to trigger them. If a platform letter has spooked you into a late registration, we sort the catch-up filing and minimise penalties rather than leaving you to guess.
If you are trading and choose actual expenses over the £1,000 allowance, allowable costs include Vinted selling/'Boost' fees, postage and packaging, the cost of stock you bought to resell, a proportion of your phone and broadband, payment fees, and mileage at the simplified 55p/25p rates. Get this right and many small resellers find their taxable profit is far lower than the cash that landed in their account. We build a simple, HMRC-defensible record so you claim everything you're entitled to and nothing you're not.
A growing reselling business eventually meets bigger rules. VAT registration is required once taxable turnover passes £90,000 (deregistration £88,000). Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts to apply from April 2026 for sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000, April 2027 over £30,000, and April 2028 over £20,000, meaning quarterly digital updates via software like Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent or Sage. We tell you when each threshold is realistically in view and whether incorporating (Corporation Tax at 19% up to £50,000) ever makes sense for a resale operation.
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Almost certainly not. Since 1 January 2024 platforms report sellers who pass roughly 30 items or about £1,700 (€2,000) a year, and the first reports went to HMRC by 31 January 2025. It is a reporting threshold, not a tax bill. If you were only selling your own old clothes, nothing is owed and there's usually nothing to file. We can confirm your position in a single 72-hour reply.
No. Selling personal possessions you once bought to use is not trading, so there is no income tax however many items you sell. The only exception is Capital Gains Tax if a single item or matching set sells for over £6,000, extremely rare for clothing. Decluttering your wardrobe is tax-free.
When you're selling for profit rather than clearing out, for example buying stock or charity-shop finds to resell, or making items to sell. HMRC's 'badges of trade' look at intention to profit, how regular and systematic the selling is, and the gap between buying and selling. Once you're trading, the £1,000 trading allowance is your tax-free line; above it you must register and declare.
It's a flat £1,000 of tax-free gross income per tax year, shared across all your side-hustles combined. If your total side-hustle income is £1,000 or less, you generally needn't tell HMRC. Over £1,000, you register for Self Assessment and either deduct the £1,000 allowance or your actual expenses, whichever is higher. You can't claim both.
If your trading income exceeds £1,000 in a tax year, yes. You must register by 5 October following the end of that tax year, then file online and pay by the following 31 January. We handle the registration and return for you, and if you're registering late after a platform letter, we manage the catch-up filing to keep penalties down.
If you're trading and use actual expenses instead of the £1,000 allowance, you can deduct Vinted fees and Boosts, postage and packaging, the cost of stock bought to resell, payment fees, a fair share of phone and broadband, and mileage at 55p per mile (first 10,000 miles, 25p after). We work out whether the allowance or actual expenses gives you the lower taxable profit.
Flat fees of £99, £199 or £499 depending on complexity, quoted up front, on rolling monthly terms with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You get a named qualified accountant, replies within 72 hours, and support for Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and Sage, no surprise bills on a side-hustle return.
Thirty minutes with an ACCA-qualified accountant. Most owners uncover £1,000-£3,000 in annual savings on the first call. If we are not the right fit, you walk away with a free tax review on the house.
