HMRC is gearing up for a fresh crackdown on those who fail to disclose their incomes from online sales after new figures show that the tax authority received reports on the earnings of almost 4 million online sellers in 2025.
The new figures, obtained via a freedom of information request submitted by accountancy firm BDO, reveal that HMRC received reports on the incomes of 3,988,892 online sellers in calendar year 2025, a 272% rise on the 1,466,171 seller reports it received in 2024.
Total online earnings from this group reached almost £55bn in 2025, more than double the £25.5bn reported in calendar year 2024.
HMRC said the figures are likely to include a mixture of individual sellers or entity sellers such as companies, partnerships, trusts or charities.
Since 1 January 2024, digital platforms such as online marketplaces, short term accommodation, food delivery, private hire and content sharing websites have been obliged to collect information on the incomes of those selling on their platforms and report the information to HMRC. This is part of a standardised international data exchange scheme introduced by the OECD.
The digital platforms are only required to share information with HMRC where a user makes more than 30 sales per year and earns more than £1,700.
In 2025, HMRC received 811 reports directly from digital operators in the UK, up from 806 in 2024. The tax authority also disclosed it had received 13 reports about UK taxpayers from overseas jurisdictions, some of which may contain information from multiple platform operators.
Dawn Register, a tax dispute resolution partner at BDO said:
“HMRC have been concerned for some time that large numbers of people may have been under declaring incomes earned via digital platforms – but up until now, they haven’t always had the information to prove it.
“This new data will be an absolute gamechanger for HMRC – and a goldmine for tax inspectors seeking to ensure that online sellers pay the right amount of tax.
“With a staggering £55bn of online sales reported to HMRC for 2025, the tax authority will have a huge new target to aim at.
“We know that HMRC is now in the final stages of building a system to automatically extract and analyse this new data. Once complete, this will be used to target its future compliance activity.
“We would encourage all those who have failed to accurately declare their historic earnings to bring their tax affairs up to date.
“There are a number of ways in which people can make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC about underpaid tax. Selecting the most appropriate route will depend on a person’s individual circumstances and the reasons why the inaccuracies occurred.
“Unpaid tax may be subject to late payment interest – currently at 7.75% – plus penalties depending on the nature of the reasons for non-compliance, so it often pays to come clean at an early stage.
“In some cases, those with historical tax liabilities may also be able to agree a Time to Pay arrangement to repay money owed in instalments.”
Last year, HMRC began to send out ‘nudge’ letters to people they suspected of not reporting income earned from online marketplace sales. Further compliance activity is expected to follow later this year.
To help people understand whether and how they need to report their income, HMRC recently launched an online tool on the gov.uk website. This is designed to help those who sell goods and services, sell personal possessions, rent out land or property, create online content or receive income through other sources such as income from savings and investments or selling property.
