Buying from private individuals: keeping records sound without invoices
Written by Ilias Aarrass6 min read · Last reviewed on 
Written by Ilias Aarrass6 min read · Last reviewed on Anyone trading second-hand goods, from furniture and bikes to cameras and phones, often buys stock from private individuals: via marketplaces, flea markets or at the door. Those sellers send no invoice and charge no VAT, which is exactly why your side of the records matters more. The tax authority wants to trace where stock came from and what you paid, and for some goods the municipality watches too. Three fixed habits make it very manageable.
Habit one: the purchase register
Without a purchase invoice you create the evidence yourself. Keep per purchase a declaration or register line with the date, a description of the item, the price paid and the seller's name and address. Preferably pay by bank, so the payment matches your register; cash purchases also belong in your cash records. This register is not just tax hygiene: it is the mandatory basis for the margin scheme, and your substantiation of the cost of your stock.
Habit two: using the margin scheme
Since you buy without VAT, VAT on your full selling price would be unfair. Hence the margin scheme: you remit VAT only on your margin, the difference between selling and purchase price. The condition is precisely the purchase register above, because without a recorded purchase price no margin can be calculated. Margin invoices show no VAT amount; your customer can deduct nothing either. Selling both margin and regular goods? Keep the streams strictly separate in your records.
Habit three: check whether you need a dealer registration
Traders in used and unregulated goods, think bikes, jewellery, phones, tools and electronics, face a long-standing extra regime against fencing: you register as a dealer with the municipality and keep a continuous purchase and sales register. Many municipalities use the Digital Dealers Register (DOR), linked to the police. Whether you fall under it and how to register differs per municipality; one phone call or a look at the municipal site brings clarity. It sounds heavier than it is: someone already keeping a purchase register usually complies with a small extension.
Buying via auctions, thrift stores and abroad
Not every source is a private individual. A thrift store or trader issues an invoice, sometimes with margin VAT, sometimes regular: keep it and follow what it says. At auctions you often buy with a premium; that settlement also belongs in your records. And beware buying abroad: goods you import from outside the EU with import VAT may not afterwards be resold under the margin scheme. Mixing sources? Record per item through which route it arrived.
Frequently asked questions
Must the seller prove identity at my purchase?
For your ordinary register name and address suffice. Under municipal dealer rules an identity check is typically required. Individuals objecting over a normal item are rare; objection over an expensive item is a signal in itself.
Can I bring my own belongings into the trade?
Yes: you contribute them at current market value, as a private deposit in kind. Record the value with comparable listings. From then on they are ordinary trading stock, margin scheme included where no VAT was borne.
What if a seller refuses to share details?
Then you do not buy, however good the price. Without details there is no sound register, no margin scheme and no defence if the item later proves stolen. No deal is worth that.
Do these rules also apply to occasional buying and reselling?
Once you structurally buy to resell you are a business and they fully apply, even at modest scale; see selling via platforms for where that line sits. For occasionally reselling something privately owned they do not.
This article provides general information based on the rules known for 2026 and does not replace personal tax advice. For your specific situation, we're happy to take a look with you.
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