Taxes on regular eBay sales

The regular sale of items on eBay, e.g. from a household resolution, should be well thought out. Depending on the specific manner, similar accounts were considered to be commercial, which means that the providers have to comply with consumer rights, have to have information on the right of withdrawal, imprint and the like. Few people, who usually think they are “private” of acting, are likely to succeed.

Another problem, incidentally, is tax law, as can be seen from a recent ruling by the Hessian Finance Court.

In that case, the applicant (on the basis of an action against a tax notice) bought various items at low cost during the period of the dispute when browsing the course of a household break-up and subsequently offered them for sale on eBay in the form of auctions. According to the findings of a tax investigation in 2009, it generated revenues of €40,000 at 577 auctions, €90,000 in 2010, €70,000 in 2011, and €90,000 in 2011, and 628 auctions in 2011, with revenues of €90,000, and in 2012, 628 auctions with revenue of €90,000. it carried out 554 auctions with revenues of €90,000, compared to 260 auctions in 2013 with revenues of €80,000.

The General Court classified this, in assessing all the circumstances, as meaning that there would not be only a hobby activity. On the contrary, it was an economic activity carried out on its own account and at its own risk.

The trader was lucky in the misfortune only by the financial court admitting to her counter-expenses of 60 percent of the net sales. But other courts might see it differently. In this case, the tax office had accepted only 30.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.