The one fact most NZ reseller guides get wrong
New Zealand has no minimum income threshold that makes selling taxable, and it has no capital gains tax. So the entire question of whether you owe tax on your Trade Me or Depop sales comes down to a single test: are you “in trade”?
That is the headline, and it is the opposite of what most sellers assume. There is no magic dollar figure you stay under to be safe. If you sell goods regularly with the intention of making a profit, you are in trade and that income is taxable like any other business income — from the very first dollar, with no tax-free buffer. If you are occasionally clearing out your own used belongings with no profit motive, that is a private sale and it is not taxable at all, no matter how much the items add up to.
This guide explains where that line sits as of 2026, the income tax rates that apply, the $60,000 GST threshold, and one critical point where New Zealand differs sharply from the UK and Canada: for the sale of goods, Inland Revenue (IRD) does not currently receive reports of your sales from the platforms.
Disclaimer: This is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules are detailed and change over time. For advice on your specific situation, consult Inland Revenue (IRD) at ird.govt.nz or a qualified accountant.
The “in trade” test: hobby seller or business?
There is no income threshold in New Zealand. Instead, IRD looks at the nature of what you are doing. The two factors that matter most are frequency and profit intention.
You are likely in trade (taxable) if you:
- Buy items specifically to resell them
- Sell regularly — weekly, or in a continuous stream
- Intend to make a profit
- Treat it like an ongoing activity rather than a one-off clear-out
You are likely making private sales (not taxable) if you:
- Are selling your own used personal items
- Are decluttering rather than trading
- Have no profit motive — you are recovering some value on things you already owned and used
- Sell occasionally rather than as a continuous activity
The size of the total does not decide it. Someone who clears a large wardrobe in one go can owe nothing, while someone who flips a steady trickle of low-value items every week can be in trade. The question is always: is this a continuous, profit-seeking activity, or are you just selling your own stuff?
Because there is no capital gains tax in New Zealand, you also do not pay tax simply because an item sold for more than you paid for it. What gets taxed is trading income — the profit from a business activity — not a one-off gain on a personal possession.
If you are in trade, you declare the income on an IR3 return.
Worked example: the sneaker flipper vs the wardrobe clear-out
Two people, two very different outcomes.
Alex flips sneakers on Trade Me every week. Alex buys limited releases, lists them at a markup, and does this continuously to make a profit. That is textbook “in trade.” Alex is taxed from the first dollar of profit and files an IR3.
Say Alex’s reselling produces $20,000 of net profit for the year, and Alex has no other income. New Zealand taxes from the first dollar with no tax-free allowance, so the 2025–26 rates apply progressively:
- First $15,600 taxed at 10.5% = $1,638.00
- Remaining $4,400 ($15,601 to $20,000) taxed at 17.5% = $770.00
- Income tax payable: $2,408.00, leaving Alex with $17,592.00 after income tax.
(In practice Alex would deduct the genuine costs of the business — stock, postage, platform and payment fees — before arriving at that profit figure. The tax is on profit, not turnover.)
Sam sells an old wardrobe occasionally. Sam lists clothes and shoes that Sam personally bought and wore, just to clear space and recover a little value. No profit motive, no continuous trading. These are private sales. Sam owes nothing, does not declare the sales, and — importantly — is not reported to IRD by the platform. More on that below.
The numbers Alex earns and the numbers Sam earns could be identical. What separates them is the “in trade” test, not the dollar amount.
Income tax rates for resellers (2025–26)
New Zealand has no tax-free threshold. Tax applies from the first dollar of taxable income, and your reselling profit stacks on top of any other income (such as a salary) to determine which rates apply. The 2025–26 rates are:
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $15,600 | 10.5% |
| $15,601 – $53,500 | 17.5% |
| $53,501 – $78,100 | 30% |
| $78,101 – $180,000 | 33% |
| Over $180,000 | 39% |
Resellers who are in trade report this income on an IR3 return. If reselling is a side activity alongside a job, the reselling profit is added to your salary and can push part of your income into a higher band.
GST: the $60,000 turnover line
GST in New Zealand is 15%. You must register for GST if your turnover exceeds — or is likely to exceed — $60,000 in any 12-month period.
The key word is turnover, not profit. It is your total sales, before costs, that counts toward the $60,000 line. A reseller doing high volume on thin margins can cross $60,000 in turnover well before making much actual profit, so this is worth watching as your sales grow.
Below $60,000, GST registration is optional. Most casual and side-hustle resellers will not need to register. Once you are over the line (or can see that you will be), registration becomes compulsory, and you then charge GST on your sales and can claim GST back on business costs.
Why IRD does NOT track your goods sales (and the UK does)
This is the part most overseas-influenced advice gets wrong for New Zealand, so read it carefully.
New Zealand adopted the OECD Model Rules for digital platform reporting. Under those rules, NZ-based platform operators have collected seller information since 1 January 2024 and report it to IRD each year by 7 February (the first report, covering 2024, was due 7 February 2025). If you have read alarming UK articles about “the tax office now sees everything you sell,” this is the regime they are talking about.
But here is the crucial difference: the New Zealand regime covers only “relevant services” — it does not cover the sale of goods.
The “relevant services” caught by NZ’s rules are:
- Short-stay and visitor accommodation
- Renting out car parks and other property
- Ride-sharing
- Food and beverage delivery
- Personal services (tasks and gig work performed for others)
Selling goods — clothes on Depop, sneakers and collectibles on Trade Me, anything physical you list and post — is not in that list. The OECD framework has an optional extended standard that covers the sale of goods, and IRD has not adopted it. So a Trade Me or Depop reseller of physical items is not swept into platform reporting the way a UK Vinted or eBay seller now is.
Do not import the UK panic. As of 2026, the claim that “the platforms now report your goods sales to the tax office” is simply not true in New Zealand. (IRD could choose to adopt the goods standard in the future, so this is “not currently” rather than “never” — but today, for goods, there is no platform reporting.)
A practical takeaway: this does not change whether you owe tax. If you are in trade, your income is taxable and must be declared whether or not a platform reports it. The absence of reporting is not a loophole — it just means the obligation rests entirely on you to assess honestly and file correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to declare money I make selling my old clothes on Depop? If you are genuinely selling your own used personal items to declutter, with no profit motive, these are private sales and are not taxable — you do not declare them. If instead you are buying clothes to resell at a profit on a regular basis, you are in trade and the income is taxable, regardless of how small each sale is.
Is there a dollar amount I can earn before I have to pay tax in NZ? No. New Zealand has no minimum income threshold and no tax-free allowance for trading income. If you are in trade, tax applies from the first dollar. The $60,000 figure people sometimes cite is the GST registration threshold (based on turnover), not an income-tax-free amount.
Does Trade Me or Depop report my sales to IRD? Not for the sale of goods, as of 2026. New Zealand’s platform reporting rules cover services like accommodation, ride-sharing, delivery and personal services — not selling physical goods. IRD has not adopted the optional goods standard. You are still legally responsible for declaring taxable trading income yourself.
Do I pay capital gains tax if I sell a collectible for more than I paid? New Zealand has no general capital gains tax. A one-off gain on a personal item is not taxed. However, if you are in the business of buying and selling such items for profit, that is trading income and it is taxable.
When do I have to register for GST? When your turnover exceeds, or is likely to exceed, $60,000 in any 12-month period. GST is 15%. Below $60,000 registration is optional.
Know your numbers before you scale
Tax rarely decides whether reselling is worth it, but it does decide how much of your margin you actually keep. Before you treat reselling as a business, work out your real per-sale economics: platform fees, payment fees, postage and the cost of your stock all come off the top before tax. Our Depop fee calculator helps you see your true payout on each sale, and our guide to Trade Me fees in New Zealand breaks down what each platform takes.
If you also sell across the Tasman or into the United States, the rules are completely different — there are income thresholds and platform reporting obligations that simply do not exist here. Our US reseller tax guide for 2026 covers the 1099-K reporting rules and how American sellers are treated.
Shopfront lets you list once and cross-list to Trade Me-adjacent channels like eBay, Depop, Facebook, Grailed, Shopify and Vestiaire Collective, with fees and payouts tracked in one place — so when it is time to work out whether you are in trade, your numbers are already organised.
A final reminder: this is general information for 2026, not tax advice. For your specific circumstances, talk to Inland Revenue (IRD) at ird.govt.nz or a qualified accountant.
