Curious tax question - selling off plane model due to move?


New Member
I'm going to be moving into a flat in London due to work - in doing this I am going to have to downscale my possessions quite a lot, including the modelling stuff :( I was wondering if I will end up being taxed if I sell some of it off. Is that something I should be worrying about? According to this tax calculator I will pay 40% tax on it with the new wage- is this so? I'm a little concerned because if I'm going to end up being taxed on then it's not really worth selling off. Does anyone know more about this and can help me out a bit? It would be much appreciated :)

Title should be models, not model. There's also a lot of other 'stuff' I'll need to sell so the amount of money I'd get from selling it all is somewhat significant.
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I can't say for sure how it works in the UK, but in the United States you would typically only be subject to tax on the excess of the sales price over your purchase price. In other words, only the appreciation is taxed.

So you would only be taxable if the kits have increased in value.


Active Member
Generally, HMRC only look to recover tax on sales that arise from "anything in the nature of a trade". That includes income from hobbies.
Regular sales,, such as continually or frequently selling models you have made, scarves you have knitted, cakes you have baked etc is likely to be regarded as taxable and, of course, that includes online sales with HMRC watching the online market places.
The occasional sale of unwanted goods of modest value (even for a profit) rarely attracts HMRC attention or taxation. selling off possessions as you downsize should be OK. (The calculator you linked to is really for employment/ earned income etc rather than the odd personal sale.)
Obviously, no guarantees and circumstances vary.


Sr Member
Don't take my word for it as I'm not an expert and I've had a couple of pints tonight but I'm with JHY. You're not a trader. Similarly, if you need to sell your car and you manage to sell it for more than what you bought it for I doubt it would be taxable. That doesn't make you a car salesman. If you sell 50 cars over the course of 6 months that might draw some attention as there is written documentation on the keeper's logs. If you're worried try and sell the models gradually as opposed to one lump maybe? But it's basically selling your assets and not trading.
Regarding the 40% I just had a similar question from a boss and the way it works is that you keep your tax-free allowance, your 20 bracket on your income and anything ABOVE the threshold will be charged 40%. So (just throwing out numbers to make calculations easier) the let's say 10 grands is tax-free, the tax bracket between 10k and 45 grands is 20% and above 45k it's 40% and your salary is 50 grands a year. Your wage is as follows:
10k - untaxed
35k - on 20% tax
5k - on 40% tax

If your annual salary is below the high tax bracket threshold (currently 46,350 quid per year) then you'll be paying 20% on any amount above the tax free allowance (11,850). Hope that makes sense, but again, do some research, as I'm not an expert on the matter.