Selling that sweater you never liked or the pants you outgrew may not seem like the sort of thing your country’s coffers would care about, but for some, the taxman cometh.
The UK is cracking down on platforms like Vinted, Depop, and others, requiring them to report resellers’ income to His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) — the UK’s tax agency — beginning in January 2025.
That info will be shared with the jurisdiction where sellers live; any income above ~$1.2k must be reported and could be taxed. Previously, HMRC could request info, but it wasn’t automatically provided.
These rules also apply to other online platforms where people can carve out a side hustle, including Airbnb, Etsy, eBay, and rideshare and delivery apps.
It’s not just the UK
The global gig economy has soared over the past several years, and governments are taking notice.
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international economic group with 38 member countries, published model reporting rules reflecting the gig economy, which the UK has based its regulations on.
- In 2022, the US began requiring platforms to report incomes of $600+ (previously set at $20k) to the IRS. However, enforcement has been repeatedly postponed.
That said…
… Vinted CEO Adam Jay told the BBC that only a “small proportion” of Vinted sellers cross the taxable threshold. And Airbnb hosts who rent a room in their own home may earn up to ~$9.5k annually without paying taxes, per The Guardian.
Thus, the rules will seemingly only affect those turning a profit, and not people selling old clothes to make an extra buck. But the global crackdown does reflect one of life’s two certainties — death and taxes — starting to catch up to our modern way of life.