Guitar upgrade - concerns about tax?

Subject: Guitar upgrade - concerns about tax?
From: GUEST,E.B
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 05:34 AM

Hello!

I'm looking to sell some of my guitars (not all is lost! keep reading (; ) and upgrade to something nice. I'm thinking of going to a 7/8 string for extended range which I think would be quite fun, as I often play in lower tunings for a fatter sound and huge deep chords. However a few of them I haven't paid any UK tax/VAT on (bought abroad and imported - god knows how I managed to do it without customs sniffing my arse! However now it's got to the point of selling I'm a little concerned about that and was wondering if I will end up paying tax on the money from the sale or something. This income tax website says I am in the 20% tax band - would I pay that on the money from it?

Not a clue how this works so was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction.

Many thanks in advance!

Subject: RE: Guitar upgrade - concerns about tax?
From: GUEST,matthew m
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 05:59 AM

Well, to start with, the fact that you bought them abroad and managed to avoid customs charges/tax is neither here nor there now. That's ancient history. If customs didn't charge you for something that was delivered to you from abroad, that's not your problem. If you deliberately walked a guitar through a "nothing to declare" aisle, then you were obviously breaking the law, but it's still a thing of the past, and not the worst of crimes. (Thousands of people buy Apple laptops in the states and bring em back without declaring them; I can't find it in me to be overly judgemental about that)

In my opinion, the crux of the matter is really: Do you fill out an annual tax return? Are you self-employed? If not, don't worry about it.

Even if you do fill out an annual tax return and/or are self-employed, if you didn't claim the purchase cost of these guitars as a business expense when you bought them (e.g. the way a professional musician would) then I don't think you need to declare money you make from selling them.

Unless, perhaps, you stand to make a lot of profit from selling them (note: profit, not money). Which is unlikely: most things depreciate over time, and I doubt you'll be selling these guitars for more than you bought them. So you're not actually making any profit from them.

To summarise... I wouldn't worry about it.

Especially if you sell them face to face, via Gumtree or similar, and get paid in cash.

Subject: RE: Guitar upgrade - concerns about tax?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 16 Jul 18 - 11:00 AM

Spot on Guest Matthew!