eBay & Amazon report to the tax office: what DAC7 2026 really means for small sellers

If you sell things on eBay, Amazon or Vinted, one uncomfortable question tends to come up every spring: "Will I now get a letter from the tax office?" Ever since the platforms started passing on sales data, plenty of half-truths have been circulating. This article explains what is actually reported, when it affects you – and why being reported is far from meaning a tax bill.

Note: This article provides general information and does not replace individual tax advice.

What DAC7 actually is

DAC7 is an EU rule that Germany implemented through the Platform Tax Transparency Act (Plattformen-Steuertransparenzgesetz, PStTG). It requires digital marketplaces – eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Kleinanzeigen, Vinted and similar – to report their sellers' sales data once a year to the Federal Central Tax Office. From there, the data goes to your local tax office.

This is not brand new: the first report was filed back in early 2024 for the year 2023, and 2025 sales were transmitted in January 2026. Good to know: you receive a copy of the data that was passed on from the platform, so you can see exactly what reaches the tax office.

The two thresholds – when you get reported

You are reported if, in a calendar year on a single platform, you reach either of the following limits:

• more than 30 sales, or
• more than 2,000 euros in sales revenue.

Both apply per seller and per platform. Anyone who stays below both (fewer than 30 sales and less than 2,000 euros) does not appear in the report at all – this is the so-called de minimis threshold. The word "or" is decisive: someone who clears out 35 used items of clothing for a total of 400 euros exceeds the limit by quantity alone and gets reported, even though barely any money changed hands.

The key point: being reported is not the same as being taxed

This is where the biggest misunderstanding lies. The fact that your data is reported does not automatically mean you owe anything. It initially only means the tax office knows the figures.

What matters is what you sold:

• Private everyday items – the old wardrobe, decluttered clothing, the phone you no longer use – are generally income-tax-free when sold. Even if you exceptionally get more than you originally paid, this usually stays tax-free because they are objects of everyday use.
• It looks different if you deliberately buy things in order to resell them at a profit, or regularly offer similar new goods. That can turn into a taxable – and often at the same time commercial – activity.

Valuables that are resold at a profit within a short period play a special role; that, however, is an exception and does not concern classic decluttering.

Three examples – do you recognise yourself?

Anna empties her wardrobe. Over the course of the year, Anna sells around 60 used items of clothing, books and old children's toys belonging to her family – about 700 euros in total. Does she get reported? Yes, because she is above 30 sales. Does she owe tax? No. These are used everyday items whose sale is generally income-tax-free – regardless of the quantity.

Bernd breaks up the model railway collection. Bernd sells his late father's inherited model railway in five large lots for a total of 3,200 euros. Does he get reported? Yes – not because of the quantity, but because he is above 2,000 euros. Does he owe tax? As a rule, no: he is dissolving a private collection and is not trading commercially. It would only be different if he specifically bought items in order to resell them at a profit within a short time.

Carla buys in order to sell. Carla snaps up cheap sneakers and electronics and resells them at a markup – 130 sales, 6,500 euros a year. Does she get reported? Yes, on both counts (quantity and revenue). Does she owe tax? Yes – this is genuine trading with the intention of making a profit, and that is taxable. On top of that, Carla faces the question of whether she is already acting commercially – we cover that in our article on when selling counts as a commercial activity.

In short: a report only means the tax office has the figures on file. Whether that turns into tax depends on whether you are decluttering privately – or trading.

What makes sense now

The best first step is an honest look at yourself – without panic. If you sell private items like Anna or Bernd, you don't need to do anything further except keep the copy of the report. If you recognise yourself more in Carla, it pays to clarify the next steps early: from registering a business to the question small-business scheme – yes or no?.

Keeping the overview – even with many orders

As soon as selling becomes a regular business, traceability matters: which revenue, which costs, which receipt belongs where? This is exactly where our Office Cloud comes in. office1.cloud automatically imports your orders from eBay and other channels – such as Etsy – sorts them and, on request, creates the matching invoices with the required mandatory details. That way your figures are together when the tax office asks – and you save yourself the manual typing.

You can try office1.cloud free for 10 days and see in peace whether the automatic import suits your selling.