eBay, Vinted and Etsy report sellers to HMRC: what the 30 sales rule means

19 October 2026 · 5 min read · Checked against GOV.UK 19 October 2026

What changed

The UK signed up to international rules that make online marketplaces collect details about their sellers and share them with tax authorities. UK platforms started collecting on 1 January 2024 and sent HMRC their first reports by 31 January 2025. It now happens every year.

It covers selling goods, and also services like renting out a room, driving or odd jobs booked through an app.

The 30 sales rule

For people selling goods, the platform doesn't report you if both of these are true for the calendar year:

When a platform doesn't report a seller of goods
Test	Not reported if
Number of sales	Fewer than 30
Money received	Less than €2,000 (about £1,700)

Hit either one and you'll be reported. So 30 sales of £5 each, or one sale of £1,800, is enough. The limits are lower if you joined the platform part-way through the year.

What gets sent to HMRC

Platforms report who you are, such as your name, address, date of birth and tax reference, plus how much you were paid, the fees they took and how many sales you made. They should send you a copy too.

Does being reported mean I owe tax?

No. HMRC has said plainly that there are no new taxes for online sellers. Whether you owe anything still depends on two things:

Are you trading? Selling your own unwanted things usually isn't. Buying to resell, or making things to sell, usually is.
Is your trading income over £1,000? Up to £1,000 a tax year is covered by the trading allowance.

Example: reported, but nothing to pay

Ellie makes 45 sales of her old clothes on Vinted for £900. She's reported because she passed 30 sales, but she owes nothing: it's her own things, not trading.

Example: reported, and should register

Dan buys furniture at auctions, does it up and sells it on eBay: £7,500 of sales in the tax year. That's trading and well over £1,000, so he needs a Self Assessment tax return, report or no report.

What to do now

Check whether you're trading, and roughly how much you made each tax year.
If you should have registered in an earlier year, tell HMRC now rather than waiting for a letter. Putting it right yourself usually means lower penalties.
Keep records: what you sold, what it cost you, and the platform's fees.

Our online selling tax checker tells you where you stand and your deadlines. The full rules are on GOV.UK (opens in a new tab).

General guidance, not personalised tax advice. Rules can change: check GOV.UK or speak to an adviser about your situation.