Hi Trustykeiley, The ATO recently announced that it has asked ebay for the financial information on all ID,s with sales greater than $10,000 ( per year ) in either of the last two financial years. Until this latest announcement the figure had been $20,000 total sales in any one year. ( many years ago the figure was $75,000 ). If your partner sold around $20,000 ( maybe a bit more ) total over a five year period, the tax office would be most unlikely to be interested in his account. There are several things the tax office appear to be looking for with the recent $10,000 annual sales figures. They include ebayers who have several selling accounts which may make $10,000-$20,000 sales on each ID per year, but added together are much larger sums. ( more like $40-$50,000 total per year ). The ATO is also interested in bricks and mortar businesses that also have an ebay account . Some of these businesses declare their income from the main business but "forget" to mention the ebay sales. The third thing they have indicated is that they will be cross referencing ebay income from people who rely on social security, to see if they are running substantial, undeclared businesses on ebay whilst claiming benefits. ( this may be tied up with the governments recent announcements on clamping down on welfare recipients announced in the budget ) People can sell personal items from around the house and sheds without having to declare the sales as income ( so long as they are not investments such as valuable art works, rare wines etc. purchased originally as investments ) . The ATO has a range of indicators it uses to decide if some-one is running a business instead of selling private items. A very crude measure is if you buy something to sell again at a profit it is taxable income. If you buy something to use yourself ( for private purposes around the home ) and then sell it later, it is private and not subject to tax. I am a bit of a hoarder and have several sheds full of old stuff. ( mainly old car and motor cycle parts, tools, tins, signs etc. ) As I am getting older the wife has told me to clean it up, because she is worried I will have a heart attack and she will be left with it. I sell around $15,000 worth of these items on my private account each year. I dont declare this to the ATO, even though I have two other selling accounts that I do declare the income from. The two other accounts are businesses that buy and sell stuff, the private account just sells stuff I have had in the sheds for years from my hobbies of restoring and racing cars and motor cycles, collecting bits at auto swap meets etc. Unless your partner buys a large number of things to sell for a profit and sells more than $10,000 total each year, the tax office will be unlikely to be interested in him at the moment. Their recent announcement that they have lowered the limit from $20,000 to $10,000 and applied it retrospectivly, has caught many people out and shows they may change their plans in the future. My own personal opinion is if some-one on a low income or benefits makes a few dollars to help pay the school fees or buy the grandkids a birthday present, good luck to them. If young, fit people are running good sized businesses and selling tens of thousands of dollars per year they should be declaring the income to the ATO.
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