Tax question

[Olderisbetter]

I have decided to sell my comics mainly Marvel and DC, I have collected them for 50 years with no real thought of value, after lockdown I sold one for around around £1000 so I know there is going to be a lot of money involved, do I have to.pay tax if I sell them?

 

[zzr1200]

Depends if you put the funds into a bank account with oversight from the government, or a slush fund in a box under the bed.......

PS;- Both pay about the same amount of interest these days......

 

[hotponyshoes]

You don't pay any income tax on selling personal possessions. That's provided you originally just bought them to read and enjoy collecting rather than bought them hoping they would be collectable one day.

If you sell a single one or a set for over £3000 you may well have to pay capital gains tax.
This is obviously an issue with things like comic's as if you originally paid 25p and then sell for £5k there is quote a large taxable gain.

If you are selling via forums or fairs for cash then it will be up to you to report correctly to hmrc as they will have no other way of finding out

ebay and the like are different as they report your sales directly to hmrc..

 

[Bornfree]

I have decided to sell my comics mainly Marvel and DC, I have collected them for 50 years with no real thought of value, after lockdown I sold one for around around £1000 so I know there is going to be a lot of money involved, do I have to.pay tax if I sell them?

Why did I throw mine away all those years ago.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Why did I throw mine away all those years ago.

If everyone had kept them they'd be worthless now..

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Simple answer is NO - they are personal possessions

 

[colnerov]

Why did I throw mine away all those years ago.

Or did you leave them in the boot of the Mk1 Escort you weighed in back in the day? Either way, no intrinsic value at the time.

 

[Craig-SM]

If you sell a single one or a set for over £3000 you may well have to pay capital gains tax.
This is obviously an issue with things like comic's as if you originally paid 25p and then sell for £5k there is quote a large taxable gain.

They are non wasting chattels so any gain on them would come under capital gains. Of course these are jointly owned by yourself and your wife so you have £3,000 capital gains allowance each before you need to report the gain.
The gain is the sales price less commissions, purchase price, valuations costs etc.
You can take advantage of tax years too so if your going to make a gain then time the sales so that different tax years i.e. before 5th April and then after 6th April so you have combined capital gains allowances of 12,000 over the two years that could actually be two sales in the same week.

 

[skotl]

Simple answer is NO - they are personal possessions

Sadly not correct. Any personal possessions can attract capital gains tax - that’s pretty much the definition of a capital gain!
There’s also a potential liability under trading tax.
As with all things tax wise it’s best to get professional advice rather than rely on a welding forum

 

[MetalMonkey]

If you are selling via forums or fairs for cash then it will be up to you to report correctly to hmrc as they will have no other way of finding out

I'm not so sure that's true anymore, unless you are actually dealing with physical paper/coins.
Or I should say, it is correct that its up to you to report, but if it has a digital footprint you should probably assume it can be flagged.

 

[hotponyshoes]

They are non wasting chattels so any gain on them would come under capital gains. Of course these are jointly owned by yourself and your wife so you have £3,000 capital gains allowance each before you need to report the gain.
The gain is the sales price less commissions, purchase price, valuations costs etc.
You can take advantage of tax years too so if your going to make a gain then time the sales so that different tax years i.e. before 5th April and then after 6th April so you have combined capital gains allowances of 12,000 over the two years that could actually be two sales in the same week.

How does it apply to comic books?
Can you sell 10 individually at £1000 each within a tax year with no liability?

Or would it be considered as disposal of a collection therefor the £10,000 total would exceed your £3000(£6000) allowance?

 

[Craig-SM]

How does it apply to comic books?
Can you sell 10 individually at £1000 each within a tax year with no liability?

Or would it be considered as disposal of a collection therefor the £10,000 total would exceed your £3000(£6000) allowance?

The latter. It doesn’t need to be a collection but total disposals exceeding the capital gains allowance

 

[atomant48]

I pay 280 plus vat each year to have a professional do my tax return. Included capital gains a couple of years back. Sounds like that is a tiny portion of what you’re talking about making here so would be money well spent in my view. If you engage someone they will advise you on the best strategy before you start selling. Note some accountants will specialise in different areas and you’ll want one who knows about capital gains as that sounds like the main area you’ll need to look at. But even if they advised a strategy for one of the comics (like a non-taxable gift to a child??) you’d make their fees back.