Private Sellers: Your Legal and Tax Obligations
You sell a lot on the platform: how do you know if you should register as a professional?
> As a seller on the Selency platform, you are considered a trader either as a private individual or as a professional.
Qualification as a professional status legally obliges you to comply with certain legal, social, and tax obligations toward the State.
French law does not define an exact criterion for the professional status. But the qualification of the latter will depend on 2 criteria retained by case law:
The habitual and regular nature of the sales;
The lucrative nature of the activity.
These criteria remain subjective and at the free appraisal of the judiciary and also depend on the level of damage in question.
More simply:
If these are personal goods and your sales are occasional, then your income is not subject to social contributions or to taxes.
If the goods you bought or produced specifically to resell (e.g.: antique trade, artisanal manufacture…), then this is a professional activity that must be declared. You must register this activity.
We invite you to consult our page dedicated to professional sellers if you find yourself in this case.
What penalties do you face if you are not registered under a professional status?
> Penalties can be of several kinds:
Commercial penalties: In accordance with the prohibition of deceptive commercial practices, you face the following sanctions: two years of imprisonment and a fine up to 300,000 euros according to Article L. 132-2 of the Consumer Code
Administrative penalties: Tax authorities may impose fines, late payment interest in case of failure to declare (even if you are not necessarily taxable)
Tax and social penalties: Failure to declare income to URSSAF or the tax administration can expose you to penalties up to 80% of unreported amounts
We also remind you that you undertake professional civil liability with buyers in the context of sales acts considered professional.
We also reserve the right to suspend your transfer or even delete your Selency account in case of non-compliance with your legal obligations after several warnings from us.
If you are in this situation, don’t panic; you can regularize your situation at any time and we invite you to come into compliance as soon as possible if your activity becomes recurrent and your income more significant. It is up to you to make this decision and we invite you to consult a professional for advice.
Am I taxable on my sales as a private individual?
> Since January 1, 2019, the income generated on marketplace platforms is taxable under Article 242 of the CGI and collaborative economy platforms are obliged to provide the tax authorities with the income of their users.
But not all transactions are subject to tax, here are the cases where you will not be taxed on your transactions:
If all your transactions are fewer than 20 sales or if the total amount of your sales is less than or equal to 3,000 euros during the calendar year, you are exempt from taxation;
Sales made to private individuals of furnished furniture are not taxable, even if the total number of your sales is 20 or more or if the total amount of your sales exceeds 3,000 euros, you will then be exempt from taxation on these sales.
We invite you to consult this page from the tax administration detailing the taxation modalities.
But be aware, a few special cases exist…
The sale of collectible items/antiques and artwork:
As a private seller, if you are likely to part with jewelry, collectible artworks, or antiques whose value is greater than €5,000, you are liable for a fixed tax on precious metals.
For the category of artworks and antiques on our site, the tax is 6% of the price of the item + a contribution (CRDS) of 0.5%.
You must pay this tax at the time of sale by filling out the form CERFA N 2091-SD
The sale of goods over €5,000:
Goods sold with a value exceeding €5,000 are taxed. More precisely, this is the capital gain realized (difference between the sale price recorded on the platform and the original purchase price of the item). The tax rate is 36.2% (19% income tax and 17.2% social contributions).
NB: Furnishings considered furnished that may appear on our site are exempt from any tax upon their disposal according to the applicable law.
How should I declare my income and what amounts should be declared?
> You will not have to do anything regarding your taxation (except for the special cases mentioned). Selency provides the following elements to the tax authorities:
Total number of transactions: the total number of transactions carried out on our platform during the calendar year (from January 1 to December 31), minus the total number of transactions canceled during that same year.
Total gross amount of transactions: the total gross amount of transactions carried out on our platform during the calendar year. This amount includes (i) the price of the products and (ii) the amount of delivery fees when this was done by you, minus (iii) any refunds made during the year. This total amount therefore also includes Selency's commission on your sales, in accordance with the directives received from the administration.
Total commissions charged to the seller: the total sums withheld by Selency on your sales, i.e., the commission amount and the turbo if applicable.
These details will automatically appear on your income tax return in the appropriate category, which you will need to verify.
You may contest and adjust the amount if you disagree with the displayed amount.