For tax year 2025, you'll only receive a Form 1099-K from eBay if you have over $20,000 in gross payments AND more than 200 transactions, but you MUST report all profit from selling items as taxable income, whether you get a form or not, especially if selling items for more than you paid or doing it as a business, not just clearing out old stuff for less than you bought it.
Effective February 2025, ebay will hold private sellers funds for 14 days if the order is posted with an un-tracked delivery service (such as Royal Mail 2nd Class).
Yes, you generally have to pay taxes on profits from reselling items in 2025, even if you don't get a Form 1099-K, as it's considered taxable income by the IRS, though the reporting threshold for receiving that form from platforms changes to over $20,000 and 200 transactions for tax year 2025 (compared to the prior $600 threshold). You must report all profit (revenue minus expenses) on your tax return, typically via Schedule C if you're a sole proprietor, and remember state sales tax rules also apply.
2025 and later years Form 1099-K thresholds
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) reverted the 1099-K reporting thresholds to the previous $20,000 in payments and a 200 transaction minimum. The lower $2,500 and $600 thresholds are no longer in effect for 2025 and 2026.
The £1,000 trading allowance – small but mighty
Every individual enjoys up to a £1,000 tax‑free trading allowance each tax year. If your total sales income for 6 April 2025-5 April 2026 is below that figure you can usually ignore self assessment altogether, provided you have no other untaxed income.
As a UK resident, when you sell over £1,707 or more or complete 30 or more sales transactions within a calendar year, eBay is obliged to report certain personal or business information to HMRC in accordance with the UK digital sales reporting legislation. eBay will notify you when you have crossed these thresholds.
For 2025, the federal tax-free gift limit (annual exclusion) is $19,000 per recipient, meaning you can give up to this amount to as many people as you want without filing a gift tax return or using your lifetime exemption, while married couples can gift up to $38,000 per person. Gifts exceeding $19,000 must be reported on Form 709 and reduce your lifetime gift/estate tax exemption, which is $13.99 million for 2025.
Key takeaways
Whether or not you have to pay income taxes on eBay sales depends on the nature of your sales. If your eBay gross sales add up to more than $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year, eBay will send you a Form 1099-K, which lists the total amount of payments you received throughout the year.
The short answer is a resounding yes, and the reasons why might surprise you. Despite the competition, eBay continues to be a powerhouse. As of the first quarter of 2025, the platform boasts 134 million active buyers and around 18 million sellers, with nearly 2 billion live listings at any given time.
In general, selling personal items is not taxed if they're below £6,000 and you're not selling as part of a business.
Yes, we have a buyer exemption system that allows you to submit tax exemption certificates to eBay and make purchases without paying tax. Upload your tax exemption certificate. Learn more about eBay's Buyer Exemption program for sales tax.
"From 1 January [2024], they started collecting data and they'll have to share that by January next year [2025], which means they're collecting data for the calendar year 2024. "The data will be passed on if you sell over 30 items in a year or you earn over €2,000. So about £1,700 at the moment.
More to the point, for 2025 eBay will issue a 1099 form to the IRS if you have sold over $20,000 AND more than 200 transactions.
Reporting threshold
Third party settlement organizations (TPSOs) (payment apps and online marketplaces) are required to report payments on Form 1099-K when the total amount of payments you receive for goods or services through the platform exceeds $20,000 in more than 200 transactions.
Yes, you can gift your son $100,000, but since it's over the 2025 annual exclusion of $19,000, you'll need to file a gift tax return (Form 709), though you likely won't owe taxes unless you've already used up your large lifetime exemption (over $13.99 million in 2025). Your son pays no tax on the gift, but you, as the giver, must report the amount exceeding the annual limit, which counts against your lifetime exemption.
You must report any profit from eBay sales as taxable income, regardless of the amount, but for tax year 2025 and beyond, eBay sends a Form 1099-K to sellers who have over $20,000 in gross payments from more than 200 transactions, a return to the old threshold, making detailed record-keeping crucial for tracking profits and expenses for all sales, whether you get a form or not.
New Tax Crackdown for Online Sellers
This is to identify individuals who are trading online without declaring their income. This doesn't apply to people selling their personal, unwanted items. But if you're regularly making and selling items for a profit it does!
The most common trigger for an investigation is submitting incorrect figures on a tax return - so it's worth asking an accountant to offer professional advice about your accounts and check over your tax returns before you send them.
Just got notification of new buying and selling rules for Ebay, from 4th Feb 2025. All buyers will pay a 4% +75p sales tax on items they bid on/buy, the price will be hidden in that the listing will show the seller price plus the fee. Sellers will be able to see the fee amount for what it's worth.
When you can ask eBay to step in. Once the buyer has let you know that they have an issue, you have 3 business days to respond with a resolution. After that, if the matter hasn't been resolved, either of you can ask us to step in and help.
Form 1099-K and multiple eBay accounts
For example, you may have two eBay seller accounts associated with the same tax ID. For tax year 2025, if you have over $20,000 in combined payments and more than 200 transactions between the two accounts, you'll receive a separate Form 1099-K for each account.