# Buying & Selling 2nd hand goods on e-Bay €500/mth :Received a letter from Revenue



## john2012 (26 Apr 2012)

I've been buying and selling second hand goods on eBay for the past couple of years in addition to my job making approximately €500 - 1k per month.

I've been making more than this though for the past few months due to selling more.

I received a letter from revenue today asking me to declare any additional revenue ive received since 2008. 

Really a loss as to what to do as I have no way of showing what i paid for anything. All sales would be through paypal so can see what came in.

Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this or what they will ask for when I send this back in?

It would be greatly appreciated.


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## WindUp (26 Apr 2012)

can you not see from your ebay history what you paid?


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## Smashbox (26 Apr 2012)

As above, I believe you can select dates within Paypal to show your archieved items.


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## Bronte (27 Apr 2012)

Not sure how this works but can you not tot up all your bank transfers into Paypal and add up all your withdrawals from Paybal (lodgements to your bank account) plus the balance in paypal (if such a thing exists) and that is your profit I guess?  One thing is for sure, you'd better deal with revenue and if the sums are significant you need to hire an accountant as no doubt you'll be hit with penalties and surcharges etc and the advice of a professional may be important.  If the sums are insignificant than a trip to your local tax office to find out how to proceed might be in order.


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## john2012 (27 Apr 2012)

Thanks for the advice. I can get what I received from within eBay fairly easily the problem is that anything I bought would have been through websites like donedeal etc.

I'd say its around the 100k mark that i've received through Paypal for the past year. Maybe made around 1k per month from that on average. Most things i'd sell would be for instance bought for 350 sold for 420 - fees etc.


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## Purple (27 Apr 2012)

Revenue staff are reasonable and do not look to screw anyone. Be honest and open and with them, get as much info as you can on the transactions you can find and see what they say.


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## john2012 (27 Apr 2012)

Purple said:


> Revenue staff are reasonable and do not look to screw anyone. Be honest and open and with them, get as much info as you can on the transactions you can find and see what they say.


Would it be worth ringing them and asking for the person that sent the letter?

The buying and selling just started as a hobbie in the evenings really but started to sell more and more. I presume it would have been flagged then by the bank. 

I'm just afraid of the fact I can't really prove what I paid for anything I sold.


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## Mrs Vimes (27 Apr 2012)

You don't mention what you are buying and selling, but at a turnover level of 100,000 pa I think it is possible that you should have registered for VAT as well - someone else may be able to advise.

If it is the case that you should have been charging VAT then it is possible that you would actually have a very large tax bill.

I'm being vague because I don't want to scare you if there is an exemption for second-hand goods that I'm not aware of.

You may need an accountant to deal with Revenue on your behalf.


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## Purple (27 Apr 2012)

They aren't unreasonable; they know it came from somewhere. You may end up paying a little more than you think you should but, bluntly, that's your own fault; you should have kept proper records and made a tax return.


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## john2012 (27 Apr 2012)

Would VAT not have been paid by the original buyer who I would have then bought from though?


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## john2012 (27 Apr 2012)

Mrs Vimes said:


> You don't mention what you are buying and selling, but at a turnover level of 100,000 pa I think it is possible that you should have registered for VAT as well - someone else may be able to advise.


Would be phones / electronics


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## mandelbrot (27 Apr 2012)

john2012 said:


> Would be phones / electronics



Contact an accountant, and in the meantime look at this, particularly para. 14.


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## john2012 (30 Apr 2012)

mandelbrot said:


> Contact an accountant, and in the meantime look at this, particularly para. 14.


Hey sorry was there a link you were meant to post? Thanks


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## mandelbrot (30 Apr 2012)

john2012 said:


> Hey sorry was there a link you were meant to post? Thanks



 sorry!

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/margin-scheme-second-hand-goods.html


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