Britain Loses 1 Billion Pounds Through VAT Fraud and Error by Amazon and eBay Sellers
Britain is losing up to 1 billion pounds ($1.28 billion) a year in value added tax (VAT) because of fraud or error by sellers using online marketplaces eBay and Amazon, a report by the government auditor said.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said on Wednesday that the sellers involved are often based in China and that consumer regulator Trading Standards had found that U.S. companies Amazon and eBay had failed to remove sellers that were flouting VAT rules, even after being informed of the sellers' non-compliance.
"The size of the VAT losses due to online VAT fraud or error on transactions taking place on Amazon’s and eBay’s online platforms could be up to 1 billion pounds a year," the NAO said, citing latest figures from the Trading Standards Institute.
All retailers selling to c...