If you buy things to sell on Vinted, eBay or Depop, tax is only due on your profit, not on everything buyers pay you. Your costs come off first. This guide lists the costs resellers can usually claim, the ones they can't, and how to tell whether your costs or the £1,000 allowance saves you more. Not sure yet whether you're trading at all? Our checker shows how much you can sell on Vinted before tax and gives you your own answer in about a minute.
First: do expenses even apply to you?
Expenses only matter if you're trading, which usually means buying or making things to sell. If you're only selling your own old clothes, toys or furniture, that usually isn't trading, so there's usually no tax and nothing to claim. Our guide to do you have to pay tax on Vinted explains the difference with examples.
If you are trading, two numbers matter:
- Your takings: what buyers paid you for things you bought or made to sell, in the tax year (6 April to 5 April).
- Your costs: what you spent to buy and sell those things.
The £1,000 line for telling HMRC is measured on your takings, before costs. Having costs doesn't move that line. It only reduces the profit you pay tax on.
Costs or the £1,000 allowance: you pick one
Every trader can take off either their actual costs or the £1,000 trading allowance, but not both. GOV.UK is clear: if you claim the allowance, you can't deduct any other expenses.
- Costs under £1,000: the allowance usually gives the lower profit.
- Costs over £1,000: claiming your actual costs usually gives the lower profit.
Resellers often spend more than £1,000 a year on stock alone, so for many active resellers, claiming costs is likely to be the better choice. That's why keeping receipts from day one matters.
What resellers can usually claim
These are the costs GOV.UK lists as allowable for self-employed people, put into reseller terms. Only the part used for your selling counts.
| Cost | What it covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | What you paid for things to resell: charity shops, car boots, wholesale bundles, clearance | The biggest cost for most resellers |
| Postage | Postage you pay yourself to send items | If the buyer pays for a label through the app, it isn't a cost to you |
| Packaging | Mailing bags, boxes, tape, labels, tissue paper | Stationery and printing count too |
| App fees | Fees the app charges you as a seller, such as selling fees or paid promotion | Fees the buyer pays, like buyer protection, aren't your cost |
| Bank and payment charges | Business account fees, card or payment charges | Interest on a business loan counts, repayments don't |
| Phone and internet | The business share of your bills | Work out a fair percentage and keep a note of how |
| Equipment | Things you keep and use, like a printer, scales, a clothes rail or a steamer | See the cash basis section below |
| Repairs and cleaning | Cleaning, mending or altering stock so it sells | Materials for upcycling count as stock costs |
| Travel | Trips for the business, like driving to buy stock or to the post office | Fuel, parking and fares, or a flat mileage rate |
| Insurance | Business insurance, if you have it | Your home or car insurance isn't included unless part is for the business |
Mileage: the flat rate
Instead of working out the real cost of running your car, you can usually claim a flat rate for business miles. For the 2026 to 2027 tax year, GOV.UK sets it at:
| Vehicle | Rate |
|---|---|
| Car or van, first 10,000 business miles | 55p a mile |
| Car or van, after 10,000 miles | 25p a mile |
| Motorcycle | 24p a mile |
The car and van rate was 45p before 6 April 2026. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you have to keep using it for as long as you use that vehicle for the business. A simple log of dates, places and miles is the record you need.
Working from home
If you work from home for 25 hours or more a month on your selling (photographing, listing, packing), GOV.UK lets you claim a flat monthly amount instead of splitting your household bills:
| Hours worked at home in the month | Flat amount |
|---|---|
| 25 to 50 | £10 |
| 51 to 100 | £18 |
| 101 or more | £26 |
The flat rate doesn't cover phone or internet, so you'd claim the business share of those separately. You can instead work out the real business share of your bills using a reasonable method, but for most side sellers the flat rate is simpler.
What you can't claim
- Things you bought for yourself. Clothes you bought to wear and later sell aren't stock. Selling them usually isn't trading anyway.
- Everyday clothes, even if you wear them while packing or at car boots.
- The personal part of any bill. If a third of your phone use is for selling, only a third is a business cost.
- Travel that isn't for the business, and travel between home and a regular workplace.
- Fines, such as a parking ticket on a sourcing trip.
- Loan repayments. The interest on a business loan counts; paying back the loan doesn't.
- Entertaining and most gifts.
- The cost of preparing and sending your Self Assessment return, which GOV.UK lists as not allowable.
Moving something you already owned into your reselling stock is a grey area, because the value to use isn't straightforward. If that applies to a lot of what you sell, it's worth asking an accountant.
Cash basis: when your stock counts
Since 6 April 2024, the cash basis has been the standard way for sole traders to work out their profit. Under it, you record income when you're paid and costs when you pay them. For resellers, that usually means:
- Stock counts in the tax year you paid for it, even if some of it hasn't sold yet. You don't need to count unsold stock at the end of the year.
- Equipment you keep, like a printer or a clothes rail, is usually claimed as a normal expense in the year you buy it, rather than through capital allowances. Cars are the exception.
If you use traditional accounting instead, unsold stock at the end of the year is treated differently. Most small resellers won't need to.
Worked examples
These are made-up examples, to show how the choice works.
Priya, an active reseller. In the tax year, buyers paid her £3,200 for things she bought to resell. Her costs:
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stock from charity shops and bundles | £1,100 |
| Packaging | £90 |
| Postage she paid herself | £140 |
| Paid promotion on the app | £60 |
| Business share of her phone (20% of £20 a month) | £48 |
| 300 business miles at 55p | £165 |
| Total | £1,603 |
Her costs (£1,603) are more than the £1,000 allowance, so she claims her costs. Her profit is £3,200 minus £1,603, which is £1,597. With the allowance, it would have been £2,200. If she has a job and pays basic-rate tax, her tax on the profit would be about £319 (20%), instead of about £440. Her takings are over £1,000, so she'd usually need to register as self-employed.
Tom, a light reseller. Buyers paid him £2,000. His stock, postage and packaging came to £350. The £1,000 allowance is bigger than his costs, so he'd usually claim the allowance. His profit is £1,000. He still needs to register and file, because his takings are over £1,000.
Aisha, a wardrobe clear-out. She sold £1,400 of her own clothes. She isn't trading, so there's usually nothing to claim and nothing to pay. Her takings don't count towards the £1,000 at all.
How claiming works on your return
You don't send receipts with your return. You enter your total takings in the self-employment section, then either your total costs or the trading allowance. Keep the receipts and notes behind your figures, because HMRC can ask to see them.
If you also have a job, your profit is added to your pay and usually taxed at your top rate. Our guide to side hustle tax when you also have a job shows how.
Common mistakes
- "My costs bring me under £1,000, so I don't need to register." No. The £1,000 is counted before costs.
- "I'll claim the allowance and my costs." You can't. It's one or the other.
- "I can claim what I originally paid for my own clothes." Usually not. Your own things aren't stock, and selling them usually isn't trading.
- "Only stock counts." Postage, packaging, fees, the business share of your phone and your business mileage can all count too.