Vinted and Depop Sellers — The Tax Rules Explained

The Accounted Business Team·3 March 2026·8 min read

Vinted and Depop have made it incredibly easy to sell clothes and accessories from your phone. List an item, snap a few photos, set a price, and wait for a buyer. Millions of people in the UK use these platforms — some to clear out wardrobes, others to build genuine fashion resale businesses.

But in recent years, headlines about HMRC "cracking down" on online sellers have caused a lot of confusion. Are you about to get a tax bill for selling your old jeans? Do you need to register as self-employed because you sold a few handbags on Depop?

Let us clear things up properly.

Selling Personal Items Is Not Taxable

Let us get the most important point out of the way first: if you are selling your own personal belongings — things you bought for yourself and no longer want — you do not owe any tax on the proceeds. Full stop.

This is true regardless of how much you sell or how many items you list. You could sell 200 items from your wardrobe and make £5,000, and as long as they were genuinely personal possessions, there is no income tax, no National Insurance, and no need to tell HMRC.

Why? Because these are not trading transactions. You are not running a business; you are disposing of personal property. In almost all cases, you are selling items for less than you paid for them, so there is no profit and no gain.

The only exception is if you sell a single personal item for more than £6,000 — in which case Capital Gains Tax might apply on the gain. But unless you are selling designer handbags or rare vintage pieces at those prices, this is unlikely to be relevant.

When Does Selling Become Trading?

The line between casual selling and trading is the same on Vinted and Depop as it is on eBay or any other platform. HMRC looks at the overall picture using the "badges of trade" to decide whether you are running a business.

You are likely trading if:

You buy items specifically to resell at a profit
You source stock from wholesalers, charity shops, or car boot sales
You sell regularly and consistently, not just during occasional clear-outs
You treat it like a business — managing stock, fulfilling orders, building a brand
You modify or improve items before selling (upcycling, customising, altering)

You are probably not trading if:

You are selling your own clothes, shoes, and accessories
You are having a wardrobe clear-out or declutter
You sell items sporadically rather than as an ongoing activity
You are selling gifts or inherited items you do not want

There is no magic number of sales that flips you from "casual seller" to "trader." It is about the nature and purpose of what you are doing. Someone who sells 300 items from their own wardrobe is not trading. Someone who buys 30 items from a wholesaler to resell is.

The £1,000 Trading Allowance

If you are trading on Vinted or Depop, the £1,000 trading allowance applies. This means:

Gross trading income of £1,000 or less: No need to register with HMRC or file a tax return. The income is tax-free.
Gross trading income over £1,000: You need to register as self-employed and file a Self Assessment tax return.

Remember, this is based on your total sales (gross income), not your profit. Vinted and Depop fees, postage costs, and what you paid for stock are not taken into account when measuring against the £1,000 threshold.

Once you are registered, you can either deduct the £1,000 trading allowance or your actual business expenses — whichever gives you a lower tax bill. If your costs are high (stock, postage, fees), claiming actual expenses will usually save you more.

Platform Reporting — What Data Goes to HMRC?

Since January 2024, Vinted, Depop, and other online marketplaces have been required to report seller information to HMRC. This happens if you either:

Make 30 or more sales in a calendar year, or
Earn more than €2,000 (roughly £1,700) in a calendar year

If you hit either threshold, the platform reports your name, address, date of birth, and total sales to HMRC.

Does this mean you owe tax?

Not necessarily. The reporting requirement is about data sharing, not tax liability. If all your sales are personal items, you do not owe tax on them — regardless of what the platform reports.

However, if HMRC sees that you have received significant income through a platform and you have not filed a tax return, they may write to you asking for an explanation. Having clear records of what you sold and why (personal items vs stock bought to resell) will help you respond confidently.

Why Vinted caused so much panic

When these rules were announced, a lot of people panicked — particularly Vinted users who were simply selling old clothes. Social media was full of posts claiming that "HMRC is going to tax your Vinted sales." This was misleading.

The rules did not change what is taxable. Selling personal items was not taxable before the reporting rules, and it is not taxable now. All that changed is that HMRC now has better visibility of who is selling on these platforms and how much they are earning.

How Tax Works If You Are Trading

Let us say you are genuinely running a small resale business on Depop. You source vintage clothing, photograph it nicely, and sell it at a markup. Here is how the tax works.

Income tax

Your trading profit (sales minus allowable expenses) is added to any other income you have. The 2025/26 income tax rates are:

Personal Allowance: £12,570 (0% tax)
Basic rate: £12,571 – £50,270 (20%)
Higher rate: £50,271 – £125,140 (40%)
Additional rate: Over £125,140 (45%)

If you have a full-time job, your personal allowance is probably already used up through PAYE, so your Depop profits will be taxed at your marginal rate — usually 20% for most people. For a full explanation of how this works, see our guide on tax when you are employed and self-employed.

National Insurance

If your self-employed profits exceed £12,570, you will also pay:

Class 2 NI: £3.45 per week
Class 4 NI: 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that

Allowable expenses

As a trader, you can deduct legitimate business expenses from your sales to reduce your taxable profit. Common expenses for Vinted and Depop sellers include:

Cost of stock (what you paid for items you resell)
Platform selling fees
Postage and packaging materials
Photography equipment or props
Travel to source stock (charity shops, car boot sales, markets) at 45p per mile
A proportion of phone and internet costs
Storage costs
Bookkeeping software

Tracking all of these can feel like a chore, but it makes a real difference to your tax bill. Tools like Accounted can help by pulling in your bank transactions and categorising expenses automatically — so you spend less time on admin and more time sourcing great pieces to sell.

Practical Tips for Vinted and Depop Sellers

1. Know your position

Be honest with yourself about whether you are selling personal items or trading. If you are buying to resell, even casually, you are trading. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can set things up properly and avoid any problems down the line.

2. Keep records from day one

Even if you are under the £1,000 trading allowance, keep a simple record of your sales. A spreadsheet with the date, item description, sale price, and what you paid for it is enough. If HMRC ever queries your activity, you want to be able to demonstrate clearly that you were either selling personal items or within the trading allowance.

3. Separate personal and business sales

If you are both clearing out your wardrobe and running a resale side hustle, keep the two clearly separated in your records. You might even consider using one platform for personal sales and another for business, or at least labelling your records accordingly.

4. Set money aside for tax

If you are trading and earning over the personal allowance, aim to set aside 25–30% of your profits for tax and National Insurance. Put it in a separate savings account so you are not caught short when January comes around.

5. Understand the deadlines

If you need to register as self-employed, do so by 5 October following the end of the tax year you started trading. Your Self Assessment tax return is due by 31 January (online) or 31 October (paper). Late registration and late filing both carry penalties, so it is worth getting ahead of it.

VAT — Is It Relevant?

Almost certainly not for casual or part-time sellers. You only need to register for VAT if your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period. Very few individual Vinted or Depop sellers will hit that level.

If you do, you have moved well beyond "side hustle" territory and should be getting professional advice on your business structure.

What If You Have Not Declared Past Income?

If you have been trading on Vinted or Depop for a while and have not registered or filed, do not bury your head in the sand. HMRC now has platform data going back to January 2024, and they may well cross-reference it with tax returns.

The best course of action is to make a voluntary disclosure. HMRC tends to be more lenient when people come forward rather than waiting to be investigated. You may still owe tax and possibly some interest, but penalties are usually lower for voluntary disclosures.

You can make a disclosure through HMRC's online service or by contacting them directly. If the amounts are significant, it may be worth getting professional advice.

The Key Takeaways

Selling your own personal items on Vinted or Depop is not taxable — no matter how much you sell.
If you are buying items to resell at a profit, you are trading, and normal tax rules apply.
The £1,000 trading allowance gives you a tax-free buffer for small-scale trading.
Platforms now report your sales data to HMRC, but this does not change what is taxable.
Keep records, know your position, and register if you need to.

The rules are actually quite fair once you understand them. Most casual sellers have nothing to worry about, and those who are building a genuine resale business just need to treat it like any other self-employed income.

Accounted helps UK sole traders stay on top of their bookkeeping and tax. Start your free 30-day trial at getaccounted.co.uk

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