I occasionally shop on Mercari, but would like to start selling as well. I have some pretty expensive items, so I want to make sure I avoid any potential issues.
Questions:
\- Am I required to report sales from Mercari as income over a given threshold? If so, is there any potential visa issue? Does Mercari report sales to the tax office? (I ask because I’ve heard about this happening in the US).
\- What is the safest and most convenient shipping method? I’ve done returns before using the JPost app to make a Yu-Pack label via QR code at the post office. Do Sagawa or Yamato have anything similarly easy?
3 comments
– I think that the income thing is not an issue if you’re not doing it as a “pro” for your visa. The tax office doesn’t talk to the immigration office (at least a lot of evidence points to this) and even if they did I think that enters “totally fine” territory.
– You can print QR codes at Yamato. We sell a lot on Mercari. Have some A4-ish envelopes with some bubble wrap and the Yu-Pack labels for JP Post, we use those when we can. If not we stuff it into a box and go to the Yamato office around the corner to do the printing.
If you didn’t buy the items to flip and make a profit there’s no need to report the earnings.
1) Sales/disposal of personal items do not need to be declared. If you are doing it as a business then you do need to declare, either on a resident tax return (if under 200,000 total other-source income) or an income-tax return.
2) Depends on the size of the item. The shipping methods are mostly fungible, so go with whatever is cheapest.