Cable Forum - Revenue targets online traders for dodging tax

From yesterday's Sunday Times (behind a paywall).

Quote:

POPULAR websites including eBay and Amazon Marketplace have been ordered to hand over details of members to the taxman as part of a crackdown on online trading.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued legal notices to several sites telling them to disclose information about members trading online, including their names, email addresses and user names.

The sites have a legal obligation to provide the information, despite concerns over data protection, and could be issued with initial fines of Â£300 then up to Â£60 a day if they fail to comply by the end of this month. HMRC is hoping to raise millions of pounds by targeting online traders it believes are not paying the right amount of tax.

Anyone who sells goods online for a profit, or who regularly trades on the internet, should pay tax on the income. However, people who occasionally sell a few personal possessions to raise some cash are not deemed to be traders.

Online traders who have not declared their income have until June 14 to come forward to benefit from a reduced penalty of no more than 20% of the tax owed, after which it rises to 100%. In the worst cases, traders could face prosecution.

Guy Smith of Abbey Tax, which provides accountancy services, said HMRCâ€™s move would be â€œa hammer blow to those who have traded without detection so farâ€.

Thought this might be of interest to CF'ers.