Keeping records for self-employed online sellers: what to keep and for how long

Record keeping sounds like a chore, but for an online seller it comes down to two lists and a folder of proof. What you need depends on which kind of seller you are: someone trading (buying or making things to sell) or someone clearing out their own things. If you don't know which you are yet, our checker shows how much you can sell on Vinted before tax and gives you your own answer in about a minute. This guide covers what to keep in each case, how long to keep it, and what happens if it goes missing.

Which records apply to you

The £1,000 is counted on what buyers paid you, before costs. It isn't profit. Our guide to the £1,000 trading allowance explains what counts towards it.

If you're trading: the records GOV.UK expects

GOV.UK says sole traders must keep records of all sales and income and all business expenses, and be able to show them to HMRC if asked. You don't send them in with your return. They sit behind the figures you enter.

For a reseller, that usually means two lists.

A sales list. One line per sale:

• the date you were paid
• the app or place you sold it
• what the item was
• what the buyer paid you

A costs list. One line per cost:

• the date you paid
• what it was for (stock, postage, packaging, fees, mileage)
• the amount
• where the proof is

Our guide to what expenses you can claim reselling lists the costs that usually count.

What counts as proof

GOV.UK's examples of proof include receipts for goods and stock, bank statements and sales invoices. For an online seller, the everyday versions are:

• Sales: the order or sales history from each app, payout statements, and the bank statements the payouts land in.
• Stock: receipts from shops, order confirmation emails, and a dated note for car boot or cash buys where there's no receipt (what, where, how much).
• Postage and packaging: receipts or order emails.
• App fees: the fee lines on your payout statements or invoices from the app.
• Mileage: a log of the date, where you went, why, and the miles.
• Phone and home costs: the bills, plus a note of how you worked out the business share.

There are no rules on the format. GOV.UK says you can keep records on paper, digitally or in software. A spreadsheet and a folder of photos of receipts is enough for most side sellers. What matters is that the records are accurate, complete and readable.

Keep records even if you claim the allowance

If you take off the £1,000 allowance instead of your costs, you don't need cost receipts to support that year's return. You still need your sales records, because your takings go on the return. Keeping the cost receipts anyway is usually wise: you can only tell whether costs or the allowance gives the lower profit if you know what your costs were.

Cash basis keeps it simple

Since the 2024 to 2025 tax year, the cash basis has been the default for sole traders. You record income when you're paid and costs when you pay them. That means no year-end stock count for most small resellers. If you opt for traditional accounting instead, GOV.UK expects extra records, including the value of unsold stock at the end of the year.

If you only sell your own things

Selling clothes, toys or furniture you owned and used usually isn't trading, so there's usually no Income Tax and no tax return. With no return, the record-keeping rules for the self-employed don't apply to you.

A note is still worth having. Apps report sellers to HMRC once they make 30 or more sales, or receive about £1,700 (2,000 euros) or more, in a calendar year. Being reported doesn't mean you owe tax, but it does mean HMRC may one day ask a question. Our guide to do you have to pay tax on Vinted explains why reported isn't taxed. A simple list makes that question easy to answer:

• what you sold and roughly when
• that it was yours: when or where you got it, or who in the family used it
• what it sold for
• anything that backs it up, such as an old photo of you wearing it or the original order email

This isn't an official HMRC form and there's no rule that says you must keep one. It's a sensible precaution.

The £6,000 exception

If one of your own things, or a set sold together, goes for £6,000 or more, Capital Gains Tax may apply. The £6,000 is per item or set, not your total for the year. For those sales, GOV.UK says to keep receipts or invoices showing what you paid, what you sold it for, and costs such as valuation fees. If the gain goes on a Self Assessment return, GOV.UK says to keep those records for at least a year after the 31 January deadline.

How long to keep records

For self-employed people, GOV.UK's rule is at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year.

Two details:

• Very late returns. If a return is sent more than 4 years after the deadline, GOV.UK says to keep the records for 15 months after sending it.
• It's longer than for other people. Someone who files a return with no self-employment or rental income usually only needs to keep records for 22 months after the end of the tax year. Once you're trading, the 5-year rule applies.

Apps don't promise to keep your sales history for that long, and closed accounts can lose it. Downloading your sales and payout history at least once a year is the safer habit.

Why the app's yearly report isn't your records

Each January, apps that report you must also send you a copy of what they told HMRC. It's useful, but it doesn't replace your own records:

• It covers the calendar year, January to December. Your tax return covers 6 April to 5 April.
• It shows what you received after the app's fees, split into quarters.
• It doesn't separate your own things from stock you bought to sell.
• It knows nothing about your costs.

If records are lost or destroyed

GOV.UK says that if records are lost, stolen or destroyed and can't be replaced, you should do your best to provide figures, and say so on the return:

• Estimated figures are your best guess, where you can't get the real ones.
• Provisional figures are temporary, where you expect to replace them with real ones later.

App histories, bank statements and email receipts can usually rebuild most of a year.

Can HMRC fine you for poor records?

It can. GOV.UK says HMRC can charge a penalty if your records aren't accurate, complete and readable. HMRC's own manual puts the maximum at £3,000 for a failure to keep or preserve adequate records for a return. The same manual says HMRC only seeks that penalty in more serious cases, such as records destroyed on purpose, or a history of failures.

The more likely cost of poor records is simpler: you can't prove a cost, so you can't claim it, and you pay tax on more profit than you made.

Making Tax Digital changes how, not what

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax means keeping digital records in compatible software and sending HMRC an update every quarter. It applies by qualifying income from self-employment and property, which is counted before costs:

Under it, each digital record needs the amount, the date and a category, and you still keep the receipts or copies behind them. If your takings are below those figures, nothing changes for you yet. Our guide to Making Tax Digital for sole traders has the detail.

Worked examples

These are made-up examples, to show what the records look like in practice.

Leah, a part-time reseller. In the 2026 to 2027 tax year, buyers paid her £4,100 across Vinted and eBay. She keeps one spreadsheet with a sales tab and a costs tab, and a phone album of receipt photos. Each April she downloads her sales history from both apps. Her return for that year is due by 31 January 2028, so she'd usually keep everything until at least the end of January 2033.

Dan, a small reseller. Buyers paid him £700 in the tax year. That's under £1,000, so he usually doesn't need to tell HMRC. He keeps a running total anyway, because the moment his takings pass £1,000 the rules change, and he can only know that if he's counting.

Sana, a wardrobe clear-out. She sold 60 of her own and her children's things for £1,900 in a calendar year, so the app reported her. She isn't trading. She keeps a one-page list of what she sold and a few old photos. If HMRC ever writes to her, she has her answer ready.

Common mistakes

• "The app keeps my records for me." It keeps a sales history for as long as it chooses, in calendar years, with no costs. That's a starting point, not a full record.
• "I claim the allowance, so I don't need records." You still need to show your takings.
• "I only need to keep things until I've filed." For traders it's at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline.
• "I need accounting software." Not unless Making Tax Digital applies to you. A spreadsheet or a notebook is allowed.
• "No receipt, no claim." A dated note made at the time, backed by a bank or cash withdrawal record, is better than nothing. Receipts are stronger, so ask for one wherever you can.

Ten minutes a week, on the same day each week, is usually all a side seller's records take.