Vinted taxes in Germany: when are you a commercial seller?

Selling from your own wardrobe on Vinted? Usually no tax is due: everyday items are excluded, other items are as a rule taxed only within one year of purchase, and a gain below €1,000 in the calendar year stays tax-free (§ 23 EStG). You are commercial if you sell on a continuing basis to earn income (§ 2 UStG).

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Private: Gain is sale price minus acquisition costs; selling below cost gives none (§ 23 (3) sentence 1 EStG).
Commercial: No fixed number of sales decides; a DAC7 report does not automatically make you commercial.
Small business owner: VAT-exempt up to €25,000 last year and €100,000 this year; first year €25,000 (§ 19 UStG).

Clearing out your wardrobe: when does a sale stay tax-free?

For items other than land, the Income Tax Act taxes only sales where no more than one year lies between purchase and sale. Sales of everyday items are excluded (§ 23 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG). If you earned income with the item in at least one calendar year, for example by renting it out, the period is ten years (§ 23 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 sentence 4 EStG). The provision does not say in detail what counts as an everyday item. Even if you sell within a year, the gain matters: gain or loss is the difference between the sale price on the one hand and acquisition or production costs and income-related expenses on the other (§ 23 (3) sentence 1 EStG).

Two examples under this rule:

Example	Result
Jacket bought for €120, sold after eight months for €60	Loss of €60, no gain.
Shoes bought for €40, sold after six months for €70, no other sales that year	Gain of €30, below €1,000 total gain: tax-free.

Losses from private sales transactions may only be offset against gains from such transactions in the same calendar year (§ 23 (3) sentence 7 EStG). For other items you earned no income with, more than one year between purchase and sale means: not a private sales transaction within the meaning of the provision.

When do you count as commercial?

An entrepreneur is anyone who carries out a commercial or professional activity independently. Commercial or professional is any continuing activity to earn income, even if the intention to make a profit is missing (§ 2 (1) UStG). A trade business is an independent, continuing activity undertaken with the intention of making a profit that takes part in general economic activity (§ 15 (2) EStG).

If you buy goods to resell them on Vinted at a profit, that is different from selling your own worn clothes: you then act with the intention of earning income. Whether the criteria of the law are met depends on your individual circumstances; the law names no fixed number of sales. For this check the BZSt recommends contacting legal and tax advisers.

What does the DAC7 report mean on Vinted?

Under the Platform Tax Transparency Act, platform operators report data of their sellers to the BZSt; an operator that must also report in another EU member state may report to that state's authority instead (§ 13 (2) PStTG). For the sale of goods you are exempt if on the same platform in the year you had fewer than 30 sales and received less than €2,000 in total (§ 4 (5) PStTG). The platform reports by 31 January of the following year (§ 13 (1) PStTG). The BZSt makes clear: if you receive compensation through a digital platform, you are not automatically commercially or self-employed active. All details are in DAC7 reporting: what platforms report about sellers to the BZSt.

What comes on top if I sell commercially?

Register the trade: Anyone who starts an independent permanent trade must notify the competent authority (§ 14 (1) GewO). You also report the opening to the tax office via the municipality, within one month (§ 138 (1) and (4) AO). How to get a tax number is explained in Apply for a tax number in Germany.
VAT: As a small business owner your turnover is VAT-exempt if total turnover was no more than €25,000 in the previous year and is no more than €100,000 in the current year (§ 19 (1) UStG). If you start during the current year, only your total turnover in that year counts, and the limit is €25,000 (section 19.1 (3) UStAE). Otherwise the tax is 19 percent of the taxable amount, for certain goods 7 percent (§ 12 UStG). Read VAT return for a small business in Germany.
Income tax: Your profit goes into your income tax return. See EÜR in Germany.

The same distinction for Kleinanzeigen is in Kleinanzeigen taxes in Germany: private or commercial seller?.

Which mistakes happen often?

Looking only at the number of sales. The law looks at continuity, income and the intention to profit, not at a fixed number.
Not keeping the purchase price. Gain is the difference between sale price and acquisition costs (§ 23 (3) EStG); without a receipt this is hard to show.
Forgetting the one-year period. For items other than everyday items, the time between purchase and sale matters.
Reading a DAC7 report as a tax assessment. It is a control notification to the tax office and assesses no tax (BZSt).
Showing VAT as a small business owner. You must not show it separately on invoices (Finanzamt Hessen).

How VAT GPT helps

If you also sell through Amazon or eBay, you work out the VAT there with VAT GPT in three steps:

Upload files: Your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates.
Check the result: VAT GPT breaks down the VAT for Germany and the EU (OSS) and prepares the advance return, monthly or quarterly. You check and confirm.
Send: With VAT GPT Pro via ELSTER directly to the tax office.

Everything is in one place: advance VAT return, annual VAT return, OSS return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax returns. There are Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro (€49 per month or €444 per year, each including VAT). Try for Free Now

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay tax on Vinted? As a private person usually not if you sell your own things: the one-year period, the gain and whether they are everyday items matter (§ 23 EStG). If you sell on a continuing basis to earn income, you count as an entrepreneur (§ 2 UStG).

From how many sales am I commercial on Vinted? § 2 UStG and § 15 EStG name no fixed number. The circumstances of the individual case matter.

How do I calculate my gain? Sale price minus acquisition costs and income-related expenses (§ 23 (3) sentence 1 EStG).

From when is the gain from private sales tax-free? If the total gain in the calendar year is less than €1,000 (§ 23 (3) sentence 5 EStG).

Is my Vinted activity reported to the tax office? That depends on whether the platform reports under the PStTG and you reach the limits of 30 sales or €2,000 compensation (§ 4 (5) PStTG). Check your platform's notices.

Do I need a trade registration as a commercial seller? Anyone who starts an independent permanent trade must notify the competent authority (§ 14 (1) GewO).