Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Traders on online platforms such as Airbnb, eBay and Vinted should check whether they need to submit a self-assessment tax return before the deadline on January 31 to avoid potential fines, tax experts have warned.Although the rules governing who must report trading income have not changed, digital platforms will this month for the first time report sales data for those meeting certain thresholds to the UK tax authority. Since last year, online platforms have been required to report the sales of anyone who has provided a paid-for service on their websites or apps and sold at least 30 items or earned around £1,700 in 2024. The first reports will be sent to HM Revenue & Customs by the end of January.The reporting change caused widespread panic last year after inaccurate claims that a “side hustle tax” was being introduced.Experts said that people who have not correctly reported the trading income they have made on platforms need to make sure they now do so.“HMRC will compare the reports they receive with their self-assessment records to determine if online sellers have paid the correct amount of tax on the income or gains received,” said Fiona Fernie, a partner at accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg.“A failure to register [for self-assessment] can result in penalties of between 20 per cent and 70 per cent of the tax due where HMRC judges the behaviour to have been ‘deliberate but not concealed’ plus significant interest charges where tax is paid late.”Platforms will not report the information of anyone making sales of less than 30 items or £1,700 a year. Meanwhile, HMRC does not consider selling unwanted personal items casually as taxable.But if people regularly sell items or services on platforms with a view to making a profit — unless their gross income before expenses is £1,000 or less in a tax year — then HMRC will consider them to be trading and they must submit a tax return.Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s deputy chief executive officer, said: “We cannot be clearer — if you are not trading and just occasionally sell unwanted items online — there is no tax due.”Andy Wood, an adviser at Tax Natives, an advisory firm, added: “The £1,700 or 30-item threshold is simply the point where platforms report your sales data to HMRC. It doesn’t automatically mean you owe tax or need to fill out a tax return, but it’s a great reminder to check if what you’re doing counts as taxable income.”Dawn Register, a tax dispute resolution partner at accountancy firm BDO, said there had been “a great deal of confusion around when and how people need to pay tax on extra income or gains earned through side hustles such as selling goods online or earning money through social media content”.She suggested people use a tool HMRC has developed to help online sellers work out whether they are required to file a tax return. While people are only required to submit a tax return for the 2023-24 tax year, Register recommended anyone who had not previously filed a return for online trading income for earlier years to do so.Doing so would “avert any nasty shocks later down the line”, she said.“Unpaid tax from earlier years may be subject to late payment interest — currently at 7.25 per cent — and penalties, depending on the nature of the reasons for non-compliance, so it often pays to come clean at an early stage,” Register added.
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rewrite this title in Arabic Online traders warned to check tax return status
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