Vinted and tax: do you have to pay? (UK, 2026)

Updated 13 October 2026 · 4 min read

Vinted now tells HMRC about sellers who make 30 or more sales, or take about £1,700 or more, in a year. A lot of people read that as a new tax on selling old clothes. It isn’t one. What decides whether you owe anything is what you sell: things you owned and used, or stock you bought to sell on. Here’s how it works, from HMRC’s own guidance.

What Vinted tells HMRC

Under the digital platform reporting rules, platforms like Vinted collect details about their sellers and report them to HMRC every year, by 31 January for the year before. You’re left out if you make fewer than 30 sales and receive less than €2,000 (about £1,700) in the year. Pass either line and Vinted sends your name, address, date of birth, tax reference, number of sales and the total you received. That’s why the app may ask you for details like your National Insurance number.

Selling your own clothes: usually no tax

HMRC’s guidance says that if you sell things you owned for your own use, you probably don’t have to pay Income Tax on them, and probably don’t need to tell HMRC, however many you sell. Capital Gains Tax only comes in when one item, or a set, sells for more than £6,000. Secondhand clothes almost always sell for less than they cost. So a big wardrobe clear-out can cross 30 sales, get reported, and still owe nothing.

Reselling is trading

Buying clothes to sell them on for a profit, or making things to sell, counts as trading. Your trading income from every platform is added together. The first £1,000 a year is covered by the trading allowance and needs no action. Above that, you register for Self Assessment and pay tax on your profit, or deduct the £1,000 allowance instead of your actual costs. HMRC looks at things like:

• whether you bought the items intending to resell them;
• how often and how regularly you sell;
• whether you repair, clean up or alter items to sell them for more;
• whether you sell new items you never used yourself.

What to keep

• A note of what you sold and for how much. Your Vinted order history covers most of it.
• For anything bought to resell: what you paid, postage, packaging and other costs.
• If you only sell your own things, there’s nothing to send in.

If you sell as a business

Once you’re trading, Vinted expects you to use a Pro account, with your business details on show and 14-day returns for buyers. Our Vinted Pro guide covers what changes. In the EU, the same reporting rule is called DAC7, with the same 30-sales or €2,000 line; we have versions for France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Clear the wardrobe faster

Whether you’re emptying your own wardrobe or running a resale side business, the first photo decides how fast things go. Vintsee puts your own photo of an item on an AI model, keeping colour, print, logos and wear exactly as they are, and writes the listing text. Keep your own photos of the real item in the listing too.