Readers’ forum: Sale of personal collection of rare dolls

We are currently considering taking on a new client who has amassed a large collection of vintage and rare dolls over the years. The client has decided to dispose of a portion of this collection valued at about £200 000 using eBay.

Each item is priced well under £6 000 (below the chattel limit for capital gains tax) and the client has now reached more than £100 000 in sales. Unfortunately the client does not have documentation on the original cost of these items although they are confident that they are making a loss overall.

eBay is now requesting either a VAT registration number or an exemption letter from HMRC. As this is definitely not a trade and is simply the sale of personal belongings I am unsure whether VAT applies in this scenario and whether an exemption might be possible?

As a general...