Resellers ParadiseSide Hustle Tax Calculator UK
Enter what you made and spent on Vinted, eBay, Depop or any side hustle. See whether the £1,000 allowance covers you, roughly what you'd owe, whether the platforms will report you, and the dates. Free, nothing to sign up to, nothing stored.
How the calculator works it out
It follows the same steps HMRC does, in order. First it checks whether your side hustle income is under the £1,000 trading allowance; if it is, you are done and nothing is owed. If not, it works out taxable profit two ways, income minus your actual costs and income minus the £1,000 allowance, and uses whichever leaves you less to pay, because you are allowed to choose. Then it stacks that profit on top of your salary to find the income tax rate it falls into, adds Class 4 National Insurance on the self-employed profit, and tells you the registration and payment dates.
It is built by UK resellers for UK resellers, which is why the questions are phrased around selling on Vinted, eBay and Depop rather than accountant-speak. It works just as well for any other side hustle: delivery, tutoring, freelancing, anything where you earn money for yourself alongside a job.
The three rules behind it
1. The first £1,000 is tax-free
Every UK taxpayer has a £1,000 trading allowance per tax year, 6 April to 5 April. It applies to gross income, meaning sales before costs. Under £1,000 and you owe nothing and need not tell HMRC. This is where most people's first few months sit.
2. Over £1,000, you pay on profit, and you choose how to work it out
Either deduct your actual costs, or deduct the flat £1,000 allowance instead. Not both. If your costs are under £1,000 the allowance is better; if they are over, actual costs are better. The calculator picks for you. Profit is then added to any salary and taxed at the band it lands in: nothing up to the £12,570 personal allowance, 20% to £50,270, 40% to £125,140, 45% above. On top, self-employed profit over £12,570 attracts Class 4 National Insurance at 6%, dropping to 2% over £50,270.
3. Platforms report you, but reporting is not a bill
Since 2024, Vinted, eBay, Depop, Etsy and the rest send HMRC details of sellers who pass 30 sales or around £1,700 in a calendar year. That is a separate rule from the tax rules, and it changes nothing about what you owe. It means HMRC can see the income, so the only sensible approach is to keep records and declare what the first two rules say you should.
Three worked examples
| Sold £800 of trainers, £500 costs, salary £30,000 | Income is under £1,000. Trading allowance covers it. Nothing to pay, nothing to report. |
|---|---|
| Sold £3,200, £1,900 costs, salary £28,000 | Over the allowance. Actual costs give £1,300 profit; the allowance would give £2,200, so actual costs win. £1,300 stacked on £28,000 is all in the basic rate: £260 income tax. Class 4 NI: profit is under £12,570, so £0. £260 owed, you keep £1,040 of the profit. Register by 5 October, pay by 31 January. |
| Sold £18,000, £11,000 costs, salary £45,000 | Profit £7,000. £5,270 of it fits under the £50,270 higher-rate line at 20% (£1,054), the remaining £1,730 is at 40% (£692). Class 4 NI: profit under £12,570, so £0. £1,746 owed, you keep £5,254. |
The third example is the one worth noticing. A reseller doing £1,500 a month in sales alongside a decent salary keeps three-quarters of the profit. The tax is real, but it is nowhere near the "HMRC takes half" figure people repeat.
What you can deduct
If you are deducting actual costs, anything you spend wholly for the side hustle reduces the profit you pay tax on:
- Stock: everything you bought to sell on.
- Postage, packaging, labels, boxes.
- Platform fees: Vinted Pro, eBay final value fees, Depop fees, PayPal fees.
- Tools and software: monitors, listing tools, a reselling community membership such as Resellers Paradise.
- A share of your phone bill and home internet if you use them for the business.
- Mileage to charity shops, car boots and outlets at HMRC's approved rate.
Keep every receipt from day one, in a folder or a free app. The January return is a half-hour job if you did; a miserable weekend if you didn't.
Platform reporting: Vinted, eBay, Depop
The reporting threshold is 30 sales or roughly £1,700 (set in euros as €2,000) in a calendar year, January to December, which is a different year from the tax year. Pass either and the platform sends HMRC your name, address, the money you received and your bank details in January of the following year. You will usually get a copy. It is not an investigation and it is not a demand. If your gross income for the tax year was under £1,000 you still owe nothing. If it was over, you should already be registered.
Selling your own things does not count
Clearing out your wardrobe, your old games, your kids' outgrown clothes: not trading, not taxed, never has been, and the platform reporting doesn't change that. You might still get reported if you pass 30 sales, but HMRC understands the difference between a clear-out and a business. The line is crossed when you buy things in order to sell them.
The dates
| 6 April to 5 April | The tax year. All the £1,000 and profit figures are per tax year. |
|---|---|
| 5 October | Deadline to register for Self Assessment, after the end of the tax year in which you first went over £1,000. Ten minutes on gov.uk. |
| 31 January | Deadline to file the return and pay. For the tax year ending 5 April 2027, that is 31 January 2028. |
| January to December | The calendar year the platforms count sales over for reporting. Reports go to HMRC the following January. |
Making the side hustle worth the tax
If the calculator just told you that you owe a few hundred pounds, the lesson is not to earn less. It is that you have a side hustle that is actually working, and the way to make the tax feel small is to make the profit big. That comes down to two things resellers learn fast: buy cheaper, and hear about the deals before everyone else.
That is what Resellers Paradise is for. A Vinted bot that shows new listings 4-7 seconds before the app with one-tap autobuy, an eBay bot that DMs you every new listing matching a search you set, discount monitors watching 50+ UK retailers for price errors and clearance, like the £95 adidas Ozweegos JD Sports priced at £4 last week, and 1,500+ UK resellers posting what is selling and at what margin every day. Plus the guides: a full Vinted reselling guide, outlet guides, trading card guides, hype release guides. Membership is £25 a month, tax-deductible against the profit it helps you make, and the side hustle UK guide explains how to start from nothing.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay tax on a side hustle in the UK?
Only once your total side hustle income passes £1,000 in a tax year. Under that, the trading allowance covers you: nothing to pay and nothing to tell HMRC. Above it, you register for Self Assessment and pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance on your profit, which is income minus costs, or income minus the £1,000 allowance if that works out better.
Is the £1,000 trading allowance based on sales or profit?
Sales. It is £1,000 of gross income before any costs. If you sold £1,200 of trainers that cost you £900, you are over the allowance because income is £1,200, even though profit is only £300. You would then pay tax on £200 if you used the allowance, or on £300 if you deducted actual costs, so the allowance is the better choice there.
Does Vinted report me to HMRC?
Vinted, eBay, Depop, Etsy and other platforms report sellers to HMRC once they pass 30 sales or around £1,700 in a calendar year. Being reported is not a tax bill. It only means HMRC can see the income. Whether you owe anything is decided by the £1,000 trading allowance and your profit, not by the reporting.
Do I pay tax on selling my own old clothes?
No. Selling your own belongings is not trading, however much it comes to, and is not taxed. The rules apply when you buy or make things to sell on, or provide a service for money. If you do both, only the buying-to-sell income counts.
How is side hustle tax calculated if I have a job?
Your side hustle profit is added on top of your salary and taxed at whatever band it lands in. If your salary already uses your personal allowance, every pound of side hustle profit is taxed at 20%, or 40% once your combined income passes £50,270. Class 4 National Insurance is charged on the self-employed profit separately. The calculator does this when you enter your salary.
When do I have to register and pay?
Register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you first went over £1,000. File and pay by 31 January after that. The tax year runs 6 April to 5 April.
Can I deduct a reselling community membership?
Yes, if you are deducting actual costs rather than using the £1,000 allowance. Tools, software, memberships, postage, packaging, platform fees, stock and a share of phone and travel used for the business all reduce taxable profit. Keep receipts.
Is this calculator accurate?
It is an estimate using the rates and thresholds for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the standard personal allowance. Scotland has different income tax bands. It does not cover student loan repayments, High Income Child Benefit Charge, pension contributions or other income like rent or dividends. For anything beyond a straightforward side hustle alongside a salary, check with HMRC or an accountant.
- HMRC: Tax-free allowances on property and trading income; Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances; Self-employed National Insurance rates; Selling goods or services on a digital platform; Register for Self Assessment.
- Figures used: personal allowance £12,570; basic rate 20% to £50,270; higher rate 40% to £125,140; additional rate 45%; personal allowance tapered above £100,000; Class 4 NI 6% on profits £12,570 to £50,270 and 2% above; platform reporting at 30 sales or €2,000.
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