Vinted and eBay tax year: April to April, or January to December?

Two different years apply to online sellers, and they get mixed up all the time:

• The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. It's the year HMRC's rules and Self Assessment use, whichever app you sell on.
• The platform reporting year runs from 1 January to 31 December. It's the year platforms use when they report sellers to HMRC and send you a copy.

This guide shows how the two fit together, and why it matters in January 2027 in particular. It uses GOV.UK and HMRC's own manual. It doesn't describe any platform's own sales reports or settings. For those, check the platform's help pages.

The short answer

GOV.UK's guidance on income from online platforms says:

"Some online platforms will show your income for the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December. If this is the case you'll need to work out the income for the tax year before using the tool."

And its guidance for sellers says: "If you do need to tell HMRC about your income, you'll need to work out your income for the tax year (6 April to 5 April)."

So the answer to "is the Vinted tax year April to April?" is that the tax year is. The platform reporting year isn't.

Which figures follow the tax year

These limits in GOV.UK's guidance are per tax year:

• The trading allowance. GOV.UK says you can get "up to £1,000 each tax year" in tax-free allowances for trading or property income.
• Capital Gains Tax. The annual exempt amount is "a tax-free allowance for each tax year". Our guide Capital Gains Tax and the £6,000 rule covers selling a valuable item.

Whether either applies to your selling is a separate question. Our guide The £1,000 trading allowance explained for online sellers sets out what GOV.UK says.

Which figures follow the calendar year

The platform reporting rules. GOV.UK says platforms "need to collect this information yearly and send to HMRC by the following January", with information about 1 January to 31 December 2024 "reported to HMRC by 31 January 2025". The 30-sale / €2,000 exception is also tested on the calendar year. Our guide Do Vinted and eBay report you to HMRC? explains it.

Your copy follows the same year. HMRC's manual says platforms must give it to sellers "at least once a year, by 31 January following the end of the reportable period", broken down by quarter. GOV.UK says the report shows your total "less any fees, commission or taxes deducted by the platform", and that these reports "do not replace your normal business records or tax calculations".

How the years line up around 31 January 2027

GOV.UK's Self Assessment deadlines say "The last tax year started on 6 April 2025 and ended on 5 April 2026", and that the online return and any tax owed are due by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027.

That 2025 to 2026 tax year is spread across two platform years:

Three things follow from GOV.UK's dates:

1. Most of 2025 to 2026 is in last January's copy. Nine of its twelve months are in the 2025 report.
2. The 2026 copy is due on the same day as the return. A platform can send it any time up to 31 January 2027, so it may not arrive before you need your figures.
3. Most of the 2026 copy belongs to the next tax year. Only January to 5 April 2026 is in 2025 to 2026. The rest, from 6 April, is in 2026 to 2027.

The quarters don't split cleanly either. The April to June quarter includes 1 to 5 April, which belongs to the earlier tax year. Our guide Why are Vinted, eBay and Etsy asking for my National Insurance number? shows that split for one year.

A sale in December, paid in January

HMRC's manual says the platform reports money "in respect of the Reportable Period during which it was paid or credited". Its example: if a seller carries out the sale "in December 2026 and is paid/credited Consideration January 2027", the payment is reported for 2027. So a platform's calendar-year total follows payment dates, which may not match the dates of your sales. Your own sales history, with a date on every line, lets you see both.

Worked example (made-up figures)

Tom sells on one app. Every figure here is invented. His copies for 2025 and 2026 show these amounts after fees:

Neither total is a tax-year figure. For 2025 to 2026, Tom needs 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026. His own sales history shows £50 came in between 1 and 5 April 2025, and £30 between 1 and 5 April 2026.

So Tom's tax-year figure (£2,280) matches neither copy (£2,100 or £1,500). He needed his own dated records to get it, and the 2026 copy may only arrive on 31 January 2027. The copies are also after fees, so they may differ from a total of his sale prices. Which figure matters for him, if any, is for Tom to check against GOV.UK's guidance.

FAQ

When does the tax year end? On 5 April. GOV.UK's pages give the tax year as "6 April to 5 April".

Does each platform send its own copy? The duty sits with each platform, so if you sell on more than one, each one that reports you gives you its own copy. Adding them up across platforms, and by tax year, is up to you.

I registered for Self Assessment after 5 October. Is my deadline still 31 January? GOV.UK says that if you register after 5 October 2026, HMRC will give you a deadline for the return of "3 months from the date on the letter or email". You must still pay any tax owed by 31 January 2027.

Your sales, by calendar year and tax year

sellertotals adds up your sales from Vinted, eBay, Etsy, Depop and others. It totals them per platform for each calendar year (the years platforms report on) and combines them for each tax year, split at 5 April from the date on each sale. You can set your figures beside a platform's copy when it arrives. CSV exports are read in your browser for free. Screenshots or PDFs of your sales history use AI, and your first one is free. It doesn't decide whether you're trading or whether you need to tell HMRC, and it isn't connected to any platform or to HMRC.

This isn't tax advice. Check GOV.UK's guidance on income from online platforms or an accountant for your situation, and check the figures before you submit anything.