Your platform reports your sales from 30 items or about £1,700 a year. That is a report, not a tax bill — but the question underneath it is the right one.
Which law? This page follows the Belgian rules. The Netherlands, France and the UK differ — you will find the comparison further down this page.
A report is not a tax bill. But the question underneath it is the right one.
Under the EU's DAC7 rules, Vinted, eBay, Etsy and Catawiki pass your sales data to the tax authority. That letter alarms a lot of people, and usually for the wrong reason: they take the report itself to be the tax. It is not. But anyone buying goods in order to resell them was already taxable long before anything was reported.
A platform reports you once you pass 30 sales of goods in a calendar year or 2,000 euros — about £1,700. Below both, it reports nothing.
Two things that are commonly misread:
Twenty sales on Vinted and twenty on Catawiki trigger no report at all, even though you sold forty. So the report says very little about what you actually do.
Having income reported to HMRC does not by itself create a tax obligation. Staying below does not exempt you, and going above does not automatically make you liable.
That is what everything hangs on — not an amount. HMRC's line is short: if you buy or make goods to sell at a profit, you are likely to be trading.
Clearing the loft, selling clothes you wore yourself, furniture from your own house. You are unlikely to pay any tax on that, whatever the total.
Gross trading income of £1,000 or less in a tax year: you may not have to tell HMRC at all. Note that this is measured on gross income, not on profit.
More than £1,000 gross and you register for Self Assessment. You may then either use the £1,000 allowance instead of expenses, or deduct your actual expenses — whichever leaves you better off.
Note that the trading allowance is about telling HMRC, not about whether the activity counts as trading. Those are two different questions, and the first one does not answer the second.
This is the opposite of what most people expect. The 30-sales-or-2,000-euro threshold comes from the same European rules and is identical in all four countries. What happens afterwards is not.
a middle category the others do not have: occasional resale is 'miscellaneous income' taxed at 33% after costs, box XV code 1200/2200.
taxable as soon as you buy, sell and make a profit — and the Dutch tax authority states explicitly that there is no minimum amount of profit.
specific to our trade: art, collectables and antiques sold above €5,000 fall under a flat tax, payable within a month of the sale.
a trading allowance of £1,000 per tax year. Below it you may not need to tell HMRC; above it, Self Assessment follows.
Then DAC7 is the least of it, and the VAT margin scheme is what matters. It means you pay VAT on your margin rather than on the full selling price — which is the difference between a workable and an unworkable business when you buy from private individuals.
But it rests entirely on your evidence. Buying from a private seller, you are the one who writes the purchase record, because the seller will not. Without it the margin falls away and VAT lands on the whole selling price.
Measured on 2 September 2026 at HMRC (the reporting thresholds and the trading allowance), and at the Belgian, Dutch and French tax authorities for the comparison. If something no longer matches, tell us — we measure again and put a new date here.
General information based on official public sources, not tax advice. Your own position depends on things that are not on this page; check it with your accountant or with HMRC.
Vintro Pro keeps your buying price, your selling price and your margin per item, and prints your labels. Exactly the evidence the margin scheme rests on.
Free up to 10 items, no card number and no end date.
Not because the platform reports you. HMRC is clear: you are unlikely to pay tax if you sell personal items from your home, like the contents of a loft or garage. If you buy or make goods to sell at a profit, you are likely to be trading and will pay tax on your profits.
Platforms do not report you if you made fewer than 30 sales of goods in a calendar year and less than 2,000 euros — about £1,700. It is counted per platform, so twenty sales on each of two platforms triggers nothing, even though you sold forty.
HMRC looks at what you do, not at a threshold: buying or making goods in order to sell them at a profit is trading. There is a trading allowance of £1,000 per tax year — below it you may not have to tell HMRC at all, above it you register for Self Assessment.
The report has gone in, and the only question left is what you actually do. If you are trading, the VAT margin scheme comes into view: you pay VAT on your margin instead of on the full selling price, but only where you can show per item what you paid for it. Without that purchase record the margin falls away.