DEPOP, VINTED & OTHER APPS TO SHARE MORE INFORMATION WITH HMRC – New rules require digital platforms to report income sellers are getting
From 1 January firms including Vinted, Airbnb, and eBay are obliged to collect and share details of such transactions with the tax authorities.
That will allow HMRC to home in on anyone who should be declaring the extra income but isn’t.
While HMRC was already able to request information from UK-based online operators, from the start of this year there are new rules that the UK has signed up to via the international body, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as part of a global effort to clamp down on tax dodgers.
The new rules require digital platforms to report the income sellers are getting through their site routinely. It will apply to sales of goods such as things that have been handcrafted and second-hand clothes, but also services including taxi hire, food delivery, freelance work and short-term accommodation lets or even renting out your driveway for parking.
The information will be shared between countries that have signed up to the OECD tax rules.
The government said the new rules would help it “bear down on tax evasion”, as sellers on digital platforms would now be treated more like traditional businesses.
