eBay’s chief executive warns that planned reforms to how VAT is collected from online sellers must not unfairly penalise small UK businesses. The comments come as the government prepares changes set to be announced in the Budget, following reports that the rules for tax collection on online marketplaces are being revised.
Outlet reports say Chancellor John Healey intends to shift responsibility for collecting VAT from individual merchants to digital platforms, or otherwise make platforms directly responsible for ensuring VAT is collected across sellers trading on their sites. Coverage focuses on the potential impact on smaller businesses that sell through marketplaces, including concerns about compliance burdens and how the new approach would work in practice. Several outlets frame the message as a warning to the government not to create disproportionate costs or risks for smaller traders, while acknowledging the government’s broader aim of tightening enforcement on marketplace VAT.
