Selling online or renting a room: do I owe tax?
Selling your own unwanted things is usually tax-free. Buying to sell on, making things to sell or doing paid jobs is trading, with the first £1,000 a year tax-free. Tell us what you do and we'll show if there's tax, roughly how much, and what to do.
Your answer
Tell us what you do, what you took in and your other income.
About this calculator
For anyone making a bit of money on the side: selling online or at car boot sales, reselling, crafts, deliveries and other gig work, or renting out a room, a driveway or storage.
We say whether it's likely to count as trading, work out the tax on what's left after the tax-free amount or your costs, tell you when to tell HMRC, and whether a platform will report your sales.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Selling your own unwanted things is usually not trading. Capital Gains Tax only comes in on a single item sold for more than £6,000. Buying things to sell at a profit, making things to sell (even as a hobby) and being paid for jobs is trading. HMRC looks at the whole picture, so this part is a rough guide.
The first £1,000 a year of trading income is tax-free (the trading allowance), counted before costs. At £1,000 or less you don't need to tell HMRC. Above it, you take off the £1,000 or your real costs, whichever is bigger, and pay income tax on the rest on top of your other income, plus Class 4 National Insurance if your trading profit is over £12,570. A driveway or storage has its own £1,000 property allowance. A room in your home has Rent a Room: £7,500 a year tax-free.
Platforms report sellers of goods with 30 or more sales, or over about £1,700 (2,000 euros), in a calendar year, and anyone selling services or renting out property through them. We treat your other income as pay or pension, and don't cover losses or Class 2. Every figure is checked a second way before you see it.
Worked example
You'll owe about £400 in tax on this, and you need to tell HMRC by 5 October 2027.
2026/27 tax year · buying or making to sell · other income £30,000 · 45 sales through apps or websites
| What you took in, before costs | £3,000 |
|---|---|
| Your tax-free trading allowance | £1,000 |
| Your costs | £400 |
| Take off the tax-free trading allowance (it's bigger than your costs) | − £1,000 |
| Taxable profit | £2,000 |
| Income tax on it, on top of your other income of £30,000 | £400 |
| Class 4 National Insurance (on trading profit over £12,570) | £0 |
| Tax to pay on it | £400 |
| The platform will report your sales to HMRC |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
The website I sell on says it's reporting me to HMRC. Do I owe tax?
Not necessarily. Since January 2024 platforms send HMRC details of sellers with 30 or more sales, or over about £1,700, a year. Selling your own unwanted things is still usually tax-free. If you buy to resell, make things or provide services and take in over £1,000, you need to tell HMRC whether you're reported or not.
Do I take the £1,000 allowance off before or after costs?
The £1,000 test is on what you took in, before costs. Above it, you choose: take off £1,000, or take off your real costs. You can't do both. Pick whichever is bigger.
When do I need to register?
If you need to tell HMRC, register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year ends (5 October 2027 for this year), then send your return and pay by 31 January.
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