IRS wants eBay to turn on its customers
Posted Feb 20th 2007 10:10AM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Bad news, Law, eBay (EBAY)

Perhaps the budget deficit is getting too large. The IRS is trying to get eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) to turn over records on its customers, especially the larger ones, so that the IRS can go after those who have not paid taxes on their auction transactions. What fun. Getting a company to rat out its own.

eBay is fighting the move, but the government seems determined to go after merchants, especially those who have transactions of over $5,000 a year.

The government may have a point; tax evasion is a serious business. And so why shouldn't eBay potentially poison its relationship with thousands of customers?

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