The media storm surrounding HMRC taxing eBay and other online sellers from the start of 2024 was, in fact, itself counterfeit goods. A crop of stories across social and traditional media swirled across the start of the new year about HMRC cracking down on ‘side hustle’ tax from 1 January, leaving sellers using sites like eBay and Vinted feeling uncertain. Coming after an early December announcement that HMRC had effectively closed its main self-assessment helpline until 1 Feb