The short answer to "do I pay tax on Vinted?" is usually no. The longer answer depends on two questions, and the examples below show how they play out. For your own answer, with your dates, use our checker for how much you can sell on Vinted before tax.
The two questions that decide it
- Why did you have the things? Your own old things are usually not taxed. Things you bought or made to sell usually count as trading.
- If you're trading, how much did buyers pay you in a tax year? £1,000 or less (before costs) is covered by the trading allowance. Over that, you usually need to tell HMRC.
How many sales you make doesn't decide it. Neither does whether Vinted reports you to HMRC.
The examples below are made up, to show how the rules work.
Example 1: the wardrobe clear-out
Sam sells 60 of her own clothes over the year and makes £900.
- 60 sales means Vinted reports her to HMRC.
- They were her own clothes, bought to wear, so she isn't trading.
- Result: usually nothing to pay and nothing to tell HMRC. Being reported doesn't change that.
Example 2: the kids' clothes
Jo sells 140 items of outgrown children's clothes and toys and makes £1,600.
- She made more than 30 sales, so Vinted reports her, even though £1,600 is under the money limit.
- Everything was bought for her own family, so she isn't trading. The £1,000 allowance doesn't come into it, because that's only for things bought or made to sell.
- Result: usually no tax, however much she sells. The only limit that matters for her own things is the £6,000 rule for a single item or set.
Example 3: the occasional flipper
Lee buys things at car boot sales and resells them on Vinted. In the tax year to 5 April 2026, buyers paid him £800.
- Buying to sell on for more is likely to be trading.
- £800 is under the £1,000 trading allowance.
- Result: usually nothing to tell HMRC. He should keep records, because if he goes over £1,000 in a tax year, he'll need to register.
Example 4: the reseller
Mia sources clothes from charity shops and wholesale bundles. In the tax year to 5 April 2026, buyers paid her £4,000. Her stock, postage and fees came to £1,500. She also has a job that uses her £12,570 personal allowance.
- She's trading and well over £1,000.
- She takes off her actual costs (£1,500), because that's more than the £1,000 allowance. Her profit is £2,500.
- As a basic-rate taxpayer, she'd pay about £500 Income Tax (20%). No National Insurance is due, because her profit is under £12,570.
- Result: if this is the first year she went over £1,000 and she hasn't told HMRC, she usually needs to register for Self Assessment by 5 October 2026, then file and pay by 31 January 2027. If 5 October has passed, she should register now: paying all the tax by 31 January usually means no penalty for registering late.
Example 5: the £6,000 item
Raj inherited a ring worth £4,000 at the time and sells it for £7,000.
- It's his own possession, so it's not trading. But it sold for over £6,000, so Capital Gains Tax rules apply.
- His gain is £3,000, but a special rule for items sold for under £15,000 limits the taxable gain to 5/3 of the amount over £6,000: about £1,667.
- The first £3,000 of gains each tax year is tax-free, and he has no other gains.
- Result: no tax to pay, and no need to report it, because his gains are under £3,000 and his total sales of assets are under £50,000.
What "tax on Vinted" actually means
- It's Income Tax on your profit, not a charge on every sale. Your costs, or the £1,000 allowance, come off first.
- If you have a job, your profit is usually taxed at the same rate as the top slice of your pay: 20% for most people, more for higher earners. Scottish rates differ. See side hustle tax when you also have a job.
- National Insurance is only due on self-employed profit over £12,570.
- VAT usually only applies if your sales go over £90,000 in any 12 months, or are expected to in the next 30 days alone.
- Vinted doesn't take tax from your payouts. If you owe, you pay HMRC yourself through Self Assessment.
Paying no more than you need to
If you owe tax on your trading profit, you can't legally avoid paying it, but you can make sure you don't overpay:
- Record every cost: stock, postage, packaging, the app's fees.
- Compare your costs with the £1,000 allowance and use whichever is bigger.
- Keep your own things separate from things you bought to sell. Your own things don't count towards the £1,000.
Splitting sales across Vinted, eBay and Depop doesn't help: it's one allowance across all of them.