Why Vinted users' receipts are automatically declared to the tax authorities

Stupor on Twitter. While the 2020 income declaration campaign began on April 8, many Internet users have been surprised for a few days to see income from the sale of clothing on the Vinted platform reported on their form. “How do the taxes know my Vinted sales?”, one of them worries. "It's crazy that you have to declare to taxes what you were able to touch thanks to Vinted", annoys another.

If testimonials of this type have multiplied on social networks, as Numerama has noted, the obligation for sales platforms between individuals to declare the income of their users to the tax authorities is not entirely new. Since the law of October 23, 2018 relating to the fight against fraud, Vinted, Airbnb, LeBonCoin and others must indeed send each year (January 31 at the latest) a series of information to the tax authorities. Among them: the number of transactions carried out the previous year by each user and the gross amount received for these transactions. Users should in theory receive the same summary by email.

Exemption

In some cases, however, platforms may be exempted from declaring their users' income from the sale of second-hand goods between individuals, as well as in the case of a "non-profit making and cost-sharing with beneficiaries" service such as carpooling, continues Bercy.

But this derogation applies under conditions, namely that the user must not have made more than 3,000 euros in revenue on the platform during the previous year or more than 20 transactions.

No systematic taxation

Even if a Vinted user is forced to declare his income made on the platform, this does not necessarily mean that he will be taxed on it. Indeed, Bercy distinguishes goods sold that "no longer wish to keep" from those purchased or manufactured "for resale". In other words, it is a matter of making the difference between sales of an occasional nature and those which are part of a professional activity.

In the first case, sales income is not taxable, except "for the sale of precious metals" or for any other property "whose sale price is greater than 5000 euros". The latter will then be subject to the taxation of capital gains on the sale of movable property at the rate of 19%. Note however that "furniture, household appliances and automobiles" are not affected and are therefore exempt from tax, still reminds the tax administration.

On the other hand, if the user buys goods to resell them, it will be a professional activity and his income will therefore be taxable. If they are less than 176,200 euros, the taxpayer will have the choice between the so-called "micro BIC" regime and the "real" regime. If they are greater than 176,200 euros, the "real" regime will automatically apply.