Clearing out the wardrobe, or a business?

Selling your own wardrobe is not a business. Buying in order to resell is one — from the first piece, regardless of how much comes out of it.

That is the whole difference, and it hangs on one word: intent to resell. Not on turnover, not on quantity, not on whether it “pays off yet”.

What the tax authorities look at

• Do you buy in order to sell? Then it’s a business.
• Do you sell regularly and systematically rather than occasionally?
• Do you present yourself like a trader — standard descriptions, returns, many similar pieces?
• How long is there between purchase and sale?

None of these points decides on its own. Together they form the picture, and that picture is what counts.

What happens if you notice too late

Registration can be done late; the trade office (Gewerbeamt) then records it retroactively from the actual start. Tax is where it gets unpleasant: income from past years has to be declared after the fact. Coming forward yourself puts you in a much better position than being written to.