🧾 Side-hustle tax: Vinted, eBay and the £3,000 allowance snapshot
Budget 2026 · from 6 April 2027 · page updated 30 Oct 2026
Whether money from selling online, making
things or doing odd jobs is taxed, when it has to go on a tax return, and what changes in April 2027.
Do I pay tax on selling my things on Vinted or eBay?
No, if you are selling your own unwanted things
Clearing out clothes, toys or furniture you bought for yourself is not trading, and was never
taxed as income. Capital Gains Tax only comes in if a single item (or a set) sells for more than £6,000,
and cars are exempt. It is different if you buy things to resell, or make things to sell: that is trading,
and the rules below apply.
How much can I earn from a side hustle tax-free?
£1,000 a year now; £3,000 from 6 April 2027 BUDGET 2026
The trading allowance covers small income from selling things you make or buy to resell,
and from services such as tutoring, dog walking or odd jobs. The first £1,000 a year is tax-free today, counted
before any costs. Budget 2026 triples it to £3,000 from 6 April 2027. If your costs are bigger than the
allowance, you can deduct your actual costs instead; you cannot do both.
Do I need to do a tax return?
Above the allowance, yes
Until 5 April 2027, takings above £1,000 in a tax year mean registering for Self Assessment, by
5 October after the tax year ends. From 6 April 2027 the point at which this income must be reported rises to
£3,000, in line with the allowance. Online returns for the 2025-26 tax year are due by
31 January 2027.
Do Vinted and eBay report me to HMRC?
They report sellers above a threshold — that is not a tax
Since 1 January 2024 selling platforms collect details of sellers with 30 or more sales, or
more than about €2,000 (£1,700), in a year, and pass them to HMRC; the first reports went in January 2025. It
does not create a tax or change what is taxable: someone clearing out their wardrobe who passes 30 sales still
owes nothing. HMRC may use the data to ask questions of people who are trading.
i
Two examples. Selling £400 of your old clothes: nothing to pay, nothing to report. Making and selling candles
for £2,400 a year: in 2026-27 that is over £1,000, so it goes on a tax return (with £1,000 or your costs taken off);
from 2027-28 it is under £3,000, so there is nothing to report. On Universal Credit, report the income to the DWP
whatever the tax position.