Selling gifts at Christmas markets – beware!

Selling gifts at Christmas markets – beware!

People selling homemade crafts and Christmas cards at markets this December need to keep within the £1,000 side hustle threshold, or face a demand from HMRC.

With Christmas markets springing up across the country, HMRC has warned anyone selling handmade gifts and other items at venues around the country that they need to check their earnings do not exceed £1,000 a year.

The threshold applies to all trading activities, so someone earning £600 from craft sales and £500 from online posts and sponsored blogs needs to register as the total would exceed £1,000.

This warning is part of HMRC’s Help for Hustles campaign, which has a dedicated website with tips and advice and a tool to calculate tax liability.

This year online sellers also need to be on the watch as platforms like eBay, Vinted and Facebook Marketplace have to report data to HMRC. Individual sellers who make 30 or more sales on these sites and are paid ‘over approximately £1,700 annually’ in the words of HMRC, need to be doing a personal tax return.

HMRC director of individual compliance, said: ‘Whether you’re making handmade Christmas decorations, selling upcycled furniture, or running a seasonal market stall, it’s important to understand when your festive side hustle becomes taxable trading.’

Local Government Association (LGA) figures showed total visitor spend at these markets was £500m last year.