Selling personal items online, from clothing to household appliances, is a common practice for many Belarusians. But do you need to pay taxes on such sales, in what case will the placement of a regular ad interest the tax authority, and where is the line beyond which the regular sale of used items turns into illegal entrepreneurial activity in the eyes of the tax authority?

Mlyn.by delves into these questions with Diana Artruovna Amirkhanyan, an attorney with the Minsk City Bar Association, who has over 10 years of legal experience.

Personal property outside of income tax

Let's start with the main point: if a physical person sells their own used items, it is not considered entrepreneurial activity. The citizen does not need to register as an individual entrepreneur or send any notifications to the tax authorities. However, the law clearly stipulates a key condition: these items must initially be acquired, produced, or used exclusively for personal, family, domestic, or other needs not related to business.

As explained by the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, comments Diana Artruovna, income received from the sale of a person's used items is not subject to income tax. Accordingly, there is no need to file a tax return.

According to the Tax Code, citizens' income from the sale of personal property (if it's not about real estate, cars, and some other specific categories) is fully exempt from income tax.

There are special rules for cars and apartments. For example, you will need to declare and pay tax if you sell a second or subsequent passenger car within one calendar year.

How does the tax authority distinguish between the sale of personal property and hidden business?

The Civil Code (part 2, article 1) states: entrepreneurship is an independent activity aimed at systematically obtaining profit, including from the sale of items produced, processed, or acquired for sale.

At the same time, there is no specific threshold in the law for the number of transactions or the amount of revenue after which you will be considered an entrepreneur. Tax authorities always assess the entire set of characteristics.

The main criteria for verification are:

Systematic nature (how often you sell items).

Origin of goods (why you initially bought them).

– Everything depends on the initial purpose of the purchase, explains the lawyer. – If you are selling your laptop, which you previously purchased for yourself and used for some time, you do not need to pay tax, regardless of the transaction price. But if a person starts regularly purchasing equipment (including from abroad) for resale, this is already entrepreneurial activity.

What may attract the attention of tax authorities?

Regular posting of similar ads.

The presence of multiple identical product positions and a wide range of products.

At the same time, these signs in themselves are not a basis for qualifying the activity as entrepreneurial, if the items were initially purchased for personal consumption.

The cost of an error: consequences for illegal entrepreneurs

If the tax authority proves that under the guise of selling personal used property, a person is engaged in systematic resale of purchased goods, this is qualified as retail trade. This type of activity is not included in the permitted list for payers of professional income tax (PIT). Such trade can only be carried out after official state registration as an individual entrepreneur.

If entrepreneurial activity is carried out without state registration, administrative liability arises under Part 2 of Article 13.3 of the Administrative Code. This norm entails the imposition of a fine of up to one hundred basic units. In addition, confiscation of the subject of the administrative offense (goods), tools and means of its commission, as well as up to one hundred percent of the income received as a result of such activity, is provided.

Law enforcement practice clearly confirms that such violations are actively identified by controlling authorities, and most often this happens precisely in the sphere of trade through social networks.