Etsy, eBay or Vinted asking for your National Insurance number? Why, and what to do (UK)

What the rules are, in plain terms

HMRC calls them the reporting rules for digital platforms. GOV.UK says they started in the UK on 1 January 2024 and apply to any website or app that lets people sell goods or services, which covers marketplaces like Etsy, eBay and Vinted as well as rental and booking platforms. HMRC's own news release is blunt about what changed: there is no new tax for online selling. What changed is that platforms now share sales data and some personal details with HMRC.

Platforms collect the information through the year and send it to HMRC by the following January. The first reports, covering 2024, were due by 31 January 2025. Your 2026 sales are reported by the end of January 2027. HMRC can also pass the information to another country's tax authority if you live in a country that follows the same rules.

• For an individual or sole trader, GOV.UK says the platform collects your full name, usual home address, date of birth and a tax identification number. If you live in the UK, that number is your National Insurance number.
• For a company, it is the legal business name, main business address and company registration number. A UK partnership gives its Unique Taxpayer Reference.
• If you rent out property through a platform, the address of each property is collected too.
• The report shows your total earnings for the calendar year, less the fees, commission or taxes the platform took, broken down by quarter.

Will you be reported at all? The 30 sales / €2,000 rule

Not every seller is reported. GOV.UK says your details aren't reported if you make fewer than 30 sales of goods in a calendar year and receive less than 2,000 euros (about £1,700) for them. Both have to be true. Hit 30 sales, even small ones, or pass the money figure, and you are in.

Two catches. The count is sales, not items, and it resets every 1 January. And the exception only covers goods. GOV.UK says it does not apply to services or property rentals, so if you are a host or you sell a service through a platform, you can be reported however little you earn.

The platforms describe the same test in their own words. eBay says it reports UK residents whose sales reach £1,707 or more after fees, commissions or taxes, or who complete 30 or more sales in the year. Etsy says 30 or more transactions with physical goods, or €2,000 (about £1,700) or more after taxes and fees, and adds that made-to-order digital items also count. Vinted says it contacts you if you complete 30 sales or more, or sell over €2,000 (about £1,700), in the calendar year.

eBay: the banner in your seller dashboard

eBay's help page on UK digital sales reporting says that if your information is missing and you've met a threshold, you will see a banner in your seller dashboard and get an email. For individuals and sole traders it asks for your full name, primary address and National Insurance number, which eBay describes as two prefix letters, six digits and one suffix letter. Companies and partnerships give a Company Registration Number or Unique Taxpayer Reference instead, plus a VAT number where they have one.

What happens if you ignore it: eBay says your account may be subject to payout holds or selling blocks. It also asks eligible sellers to revalidate their details every 36 months, so seeing the request again does not mean something went wrong. If you get a revalidation email and don't act within 30 days, eBay says it must block payouts until you provide the information.

To see what eBay sent HMRC, go to the 'Payments' tab in Seller Hub, then 'Taxes', and choose 'Generate' under 'Digital Sales Report'. eBay says it reports each January for the previous year and gives you a PDF report and a CSV of the transactions behind it.

Etsy: 'Confirm your seller info' and vacation mode

Etsy asks UK sellers to confirm their details under what it calls the UK Model Rules for Reporting by Platform Operators. For UK individuals, Etsy's help page lists your name, primary address, date of birth, the bank account your sales are paid to, any VAT number, and any tax identification number issued to you. To do it, go to 'Shop Manager', select 'Get started' in the banner on your dashboard and follow the steps. You can stop partway and your progress is saved.

Etsy is firm about the deadline. It says the date is a legal mandate, it appears in your email and in Shop Manager, and it can't grant extensions. If you miss it, Etsy says:

• You won't be able to receive funds from your sales.
• Your shop may be put into Etsy-initiated vacation mode, which you can't turn off until you confirm your info. Listings can't be bought and don't appear in search, and you can edit listings but not publish them.
• You can still see your orders and cases while you are in vacation mode, so you can finish what has already been bought.
• If you still haven't finished 90 days after the deadline, Etsy closes the shop. You can reopen it, but it stays in vacation mode until you're verified.

Vinted, Airbnb and the rest

Vinted calls it the HMRC form. Its help pages say your account details are pre-filled, you add your National Insurance number (or business details if you are a Pro seller), and you submit. If you don't have an NI number, Vinted says to select the option on the form that confirms this. Vinted says the form is due before the end of the calendar year in which you met a threshold, that it sends the information to the authorities the next year, and that you get a copy.

Booking and rental platforms such as Airbnb come under the same UK rules. Remember the difference from selling goods: the 30 sales / €2,000 exception does not cover property rentals or services, so hosts can be asked for these details even with only a few bookings. Check the request in your account and the platform's own help centre for its exact steps and deadlines.

Being reported does not mean you owe tax

This is the part that worries people most, and GOV.UK answers it directly: a platform reporting your details to HMRC does not automatically mean you owe tax. The report is not a tax calculation. Vinted says the same: meeting the requirements doesn't mean you have to pay taxes on your sales.

What matters is whether you are trading. GOV.UK says selling your own unwanted household items is unlikely to be taxed, while buying or making goods to sell at a profit is likely to be trading. Even then there is the trading allowance: GOV.UK describes it as a tax exemption of up to £1,000 a year, and if your gross trading income is £1,000 or less you generally do not need to tell HMRC. Gross means before expenses, so it is your takings, not your profit.

If your trading income goes over £1,000 in a tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April, GOV.UK says you must register for Self Assessment by 5 October in the following tax year. The trading allowance does not apply to income from a partnership. If you have been trading over that level and have not registered, the report going to HMRC is a good reason to sort it out yourself now.

Prevent the panic next time

A few habits make this a two-minute job rather than a frozen payout.

• Know where your NI number is. eBay's help page points to your payslip, P60 or the HMRC app.
• Reply inside the app or website, not through a link in an email. A genuine request always shows up in Seller Hub, Shop Manager or your Vinted account as well.
• Make your account details match your real name and home address now, so the pre-filled forms are right first time.
• Count your sales from 1 January. If you are near 30, or near the money figure, expect a request before the year is out.
• Download the copy each platform gives you every January and keep it with your own records. The report is not a substitute for those records.
• Keep a simple note of what you sold and why: old personal belongings, or things you made or bought to sell. That split is what decides whether tax applies.

Selling from your own page instead

If you also want somewhere to sell that you control, OneSol gives you a free link-in-bio page for your links, products, forms and events, and on Pro ($9/month) you can sell and take payments through your own Stripe or PayPal account, with the money going straight to you. OneSol does not file taxes, collect VAT or give tax advice, so your own records and obligations stay with you.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice, and your situation may differ. Check GOV.UK, ask HMRC, or speak to an accountant if you are unsure whether your selling counts as trading.