Selling on Ebay & Registering as a Business?

[sut6556]

Do you have to be registered as as business eg Have an ABN when advinsg the tax office of income earned from Ebay

I have always advised he tax office of my measly profit - hardly sell anything really

I do not realy want to become as "Business" with all the hassles associated with it

Could anone let me know what they do

thanks

I 

[*tippy*toes*]

No, you don't have to be a registered business to sell on eBay. I think you only need an ABN if you sell over $75,000 a year (someone will correct me if I'm wrong about the amount).

[joethenuts]

yes tippy is correct $75000  is turnover not profit in case you are in that mix.

[sut6556]

thanks so much I was worried I would have to have all that hassle

NO nowhere near the 75,000 I only wish ha ha

Probaby sell about 500 per year LOL

THanks again, I feel much better now

[pennyforum14]

$75,000 is the GST threshold, if you pass that you MUST have an ABN and register to collect GST.

As far as I am aware there is no magic number at which you MUST register as a business, you can have an ABN for personal income from freelance sources without actually having to register a business.

It is best to talk to your accountant about whether your selling activities constitute a business, or can merely be declared as income on a personal tax return. 

[clarry100]

Just while we are on this topic....

Is there any upside or even downside to registering as an ebay business?

Any additional fees?

Anyone that does this noticed any upturn in sales?

[lyndal1838]

Clarry, from a buyer's perspective there is an upside to dealing with a registered business.....if a transaction goes pearshaped and the buyer gets no satisfaction from the seller, ebay, paypal or their bank then they can resort to Fair Trading.

To be honest, it is not really a viable option on the sort of goods you sell but if the buyer has paid big $ for an item then they could feel better dealing with a registered business.

As a registered small business (not ebay) with an ABN/ACN and GST registered I would advise against it unless you absolutely MUST register to become compliant.  It is a pain in the neck and costs mega bucks to comply every year...company returns, BAS returns, GST, wages, workers comp....the list goes on.  Only go down that road if your accountant advises it.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@clarry100 wrote:

Just while we are on this topic....

Is there any upside or even downside to registering as an ebay business?

Any additional fees?

Anyone that does this noticed any upturn in sales?

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A down side is that you lose the 3 free auto relists. You also can't change back to non business once you've changed.

[chameleon54]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

No, you don't have to be a registered business to sell on eBay. I think you only need an ABN if you sell over $75,000 a year (someone will correct me if I'm wrong about the amount).

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Our accountant advised us to register our two ebay stores as businesses. The stores turn over a few dollars and are run as seperate stand alone businesses with their own bank accounts, ownership structures etc. I believe the business registration was to further strengthen the seperate ownership structures ( wife owns one, I own the other ) .

Individually the seperate stores turn over less than the GST and ABN threshhold, but if combined would be over the GST limit. My wife pays tax on her store and I pay tax in my name on my store. Neither store is registered for GST purposes. This works well for us as our ebay income is split fairly evenly for taxation purposes and we dont have the expense and hassle of GST registration.

[lyndal1838]

That makes sense chameleon...if it keeps you under the GST threshold that has to be a bonus.  It is a real pain having to do the BAS and hurts having to hand so much money over to the ATO.

My OH works just a fraction under 3 days a week for the government....GST, Tax, workers comp, company return...the list goes on.