Just had a very weird phone call.

ronnie;418955 wrote: About time too !!! All my trademe sales are duly recorded and the appropriate tax paid, so why should others get away with paying no tax on what could amount to large amounts of sales/income.

Coz many of us are not actually running a business, just getting rid of a bit of surplus stuff, collected over many years.

Stikkibeek;419091 wrote: Coz many of us are not actually running a business, just getting rid of a bit of surplus stuff, collected over many years.

+1

Stikkibeek;419091 wrote: Coz many of us are not actually running a business, just getting rid of a bit of surplus stuff, collected over many years.

Yes, I have no issue with that however, a lot of people make it look like that is what they are doing when in fact, they run check out all the garage sales and buy stuff to then on sell on trademe which sounds like a business to me !!

Stikkibeek;419091 wrote: Coz many of us are not actually running a business, just getting rid of a bit of surplus stuff, collected over many years.

ronnie;419101 wrote: Yes, I have no issue with that however, a lot of people make it look like that is what they are doing when in fact, they run check out all the garage sales and buy stuff to then on sell on trademe which sounds like a business to me !!

The issue is with people selling secondhand items regularly which is unlawful in terms of the " Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2004 "

From that Act:

Secondhand dealers engaged in business to be licensed

• (1) Every person who engages in business as a secondhand dealer must hold a licence.
  
  (2) If 2 or more people engage in business as secondhand dealers in partnership, each partner must hold a licence.
  
  (3) For the purposes of this Act, a person is presumed (in the absence of evidence to the contrary) to be engaged in business as a secondhand dealer if, in any 12-month period, the person—
  • (a) buys secondhand articles or scrap metal, for the purpose of trade, on 6 or more different days; or
    
  • (b) sells, exchanges, or otherwise deals in secondhand articles or scrap metal (being articles or scrap metal acquired for the purpose of trade)—
    • (i) on 6 or more different days; or
      
    • (ii) so as to receive revenue of $2,000 or more from the sale, exchange, or dealing.
  (4) For the purposes of this Act, the following are not engaged in business as secondhand dealers when selling secondhand articles or scrap metal:
  
  • (a) an auctioneer who is licensed under the Auctioneers Act 1928 and is selling the secondhand articles or scrap metal at auction under that Act:
    
  • (b) a charitable or non-profit organisation that sells secondhand articles or scrap metal, but only if—
    • (i) no article, and none of the scrap metal, sold is acquired by the organisation by purchase or for valuable consideration; and
      
    • (ii) any proceeds of sale are used solely for the purposes of the organisation:
  • (c) an Internet auction provider:
    
  • (d) an agent of the Crown:
    
  • (e) any other prescribed person.
  (5) Acquiring secondhand articles as trade-ins when selling new goods does not of itself indicate that a person is engaged in business as a secondhand dealer.
  
  (6) A person who carries on business as a secondhand dealer without holding a licence commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000.

During the last renewal of my PB&SH Dealers Licence I had an interesting chat to the local police officer whose duties include monitoring of Trade Me activity, mainly to watch out for stolen property. The Police and IRD pay a lot of attention to Trade Me dealings and prosecutions for sale of stolen property, tax avoidance and unlicenced SH dealing are not uncommon.

Incidentally the above regulations don't apply to imported goods such as SH items purchased on eBay to sell on Trade Me.