Hobby or business?
The ATO's guide, Are you in the business of online selling?, says no single factor decides it. It weighs things up together:
- Purpose: are you selling to make money, or just clearing things out or enjoying a hobby?
- Profit: do you intend to make a profit, and could you realistically make one consistently?
- Regularity: the more regularly you list and sell, the more likely it's a business.
- Organisation: planning, keeping records and running things in a business-like way point towards a business.
- Size: bigger operations are more likely to be a business, though small ones can be too.
The guide includes worked examples. Someone making casual sales isn't carrying on a business; someone who makes handmade journals to sell online is.
If it is a business
- Declare the income in your tax return, and claim the costs that go with it.
- Get an ABN (Australian Business Number).
- Register for GST if your turnover is $75,000 or more in a 12-month period.
- Keep records of every sale and cost for at least 5 years.
Does eBay or Vinted tell the ATO?
Some selling data does reach the ATO. Its online selling data-matching program collects details from eBay and Amazon of sellers whose online sales total $12,000 or more in a financial year, for 2018–19 to 2025–26.
The Sharing Economy Reporting Regime makes platforms report what their sellers earn, twice a year. But the ATO's list of transactions that aren't reportable includes "transfers of title or ownership of goods", so ordinary sales of things you own aren't reported under it.
Whether or not a platform reports anything, the rules are the same: business income must be declared, and selling your own unwanted things generally isn't taxed.
Official sources
- ATO: Are you in the business of online selling?
- ATO: Online selling data-matching program
- ATO: What is the SERR?
- ATO: Transactions reportable under the SERR
This page is general information, not tax advice. For your own situation, check ato.gov.au or speak to a registered tax agent.