Seller Lists

Over the years we have complied list of sellers on Amazon and eBay, who were not displaying VAT number, running dubious multiple accounts. The information gathered is publicly available information.

Stop Duplicate Accounts & Listings on eBay

Here is a list of eBay sellers who operate multiply accounts, even though Joe Billante, eBay Vice President, told the Public Accounts Committee that sellers can’t operate multiple accounts!!

read more

Amazon Sellers & VAT Numbers

A list of thousands of overseas Amazon sellers who where trading with no VAT, or recently registered for VAT or simply shut up shop and opened up under a new identity.

read more

VAT References

1) OECD – Global tax community welcomes new measures to enlist online marketplaces in the collection of VAT/GST in e-commerce

https://www.oecd.org/tax/consumption/global-tax-community-welcomes-new-measures-to-enlist-online-marketplaces-in-the-collection-of-vat-gst-in-e-commerce.htm

2) The Inquirer.com – Pennsylvania’s making millions more than expected by Making Online Marketplaces collect Sales Tax on behalf of 3rd Party Sellers. Raised $151.4m in 9 months. It had estimated $50.5m a year. Officials now expect to earn $200m a year. Nearly 4 times more tax revenue than initially expected

https://www.inquirer.com/news/online-sales-tax-pennsylvania-wayfair-etsy-revenue-marketplace-20190424.html

3) TaxNote (Pay Wall) – Australia collects £43m in 3 months from new low value import tax collect by Online Marketplaces

https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-today-international/goods-and-services-tax/australia-takes-574-million-taxing-low-value-imports/2019/04/01/299sy

4) Accountancy Age: Millions of new businesses; billions in missing taxes. EU and US tax authorities co-op marketplaces as VAT/Sale Tax collectors

https://www.accountancyage.com/2019/05/01/in-his-monthly-column-avalaras-richard-asquith-looks-at-what-international-tax-authorities-are-doing-to-ensure-compliance/

5) Forbes – California Lawsuit Says Amazon Should Pay Billions In Back (sales) Taxes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kirimasters/2019/08/08/california-lawsuit-says-amazon-should-pay-billions-in-back-taxes/#67d3e3f0729a

6) EU – E-commerce: many of the challenges of collecting VAT and customs duties remain to be resolved

https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/DocItem.aspx?did=50415

7) EU Tax:  In 2017 the VAT Gap amounted to €137.5 billion in the EU. This equates to a total revenue loss across the EU of 11.2%.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_5511

8) US Anti-Trust officials probe Amazon

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-11/amazon-antitrust-probe-ftc-investigators-interview-merchants

9) South Carolina Court Rules Amazon marketplace is not a marketplace

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-state/amazon-owes-taxes-on-third-party-sales-south-carolina-court-rules

Counterfeit, Dangerous Goods & Abuse

1) Which? investigation prompts 100s of unsafe CO alarms to be removed from sale: do you have one?

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/10/which-investigation-prompts-100s-of-unsafe-co-alarms-to-be-removed-from-sale-do-you-have-one/

2) The Guardian: Online retail fuelling rapid rise in sales of fake goods, says OECD
Counterfeits worth $590bn a year made up 3.3% of global trade in 2016, report finds

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/18/online-retail-fuelling-rapid-rise-sales-fake-goods-says-oecd

3) FT – Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods, mostly originated in China, has risen steadily, posing a major challenge in an innovation-driven global economy, according to new research released on Monday.

https://www.ft.com/content/b3b59512-497e-11e9-8b7f-d49067e0f50d

3) Which? – Killer chargers, travel adaptors and power banks rife on online marketplaces Dozens of dangerous products were listed on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Wish

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/09/killer-chargers-travel-adaptors-and-power-banks-rife-on-online-marketplaces/

4) The Times – Amazon ‘turning a blind eye’ to fake products

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/amazon-turning-a-blind-eye-to-fake-products-5w6gmfnq2

5) The Wall Street Journal – Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site. The Result: Thousands of Banned, Unsafe or Mislabeled Products

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site-the-result-thousands-of-banned-unsafe-or-mislabeled-products-11566564990

6) The Times – Chinese fraudsters are selling counterfeit products on eBay and evading VAT, costing the taxpayer millions of pounds a year in lost revenue.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fraudsters-from-china-use-ebay-to-cheat-taxman-98653cflh

7) RTL Z (Dutch) – AliExpress does not adhere to the European consumer rules, says the Consumer Association. He wants the Consumer & Market Authority (ACM) to take action. There is also criticism in other European countries.

https://www.rtlz.nl/life/personal-finance/artikel/4715321/webwinkel-aliexpress-overtreedt-regels-consumentenbond

8) BBC – Amazon ‘flooded by fake five-star reviews’ – Which? report

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47941181

9) Amazon tech with fake reviews rated ‘Don’t Buy’ in Which? labs We put Amazon ratings to the test to see how badly fake reviews can affect customer scores

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/10/amazon-tech-with-fake-reviews-rated-dont-buy-in-which-labs/

10) Beware this new Amazon ‘brushing’ scam

https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/amazon-prime-brushing-scam-explained

Death of the High St & Hello to China

1) Chinese Government – China’s cross-border e-commerce turnover to top $1.3t in 2018

http://english.www.gov.cn/news/top_news/2018/09/09/content_281476295639820.htm

2) Chinese investor to invest £1bn in UK warehousing

https://www.shdlogistics.com/news/chinese-investor-to-invest-1bn-in-uk-warehousing

https://www.cargoforwarder.eu/2016/07/11/zhengzhou-on-way-to-becoming-china-s-centre-of-logistics/

3) Forbes – Alibaba Takes Controlling Stake In Cainiao And will Invest $15 Billion In Global Logistics

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jwebb/2017/09/28/alibaba-to-invest-15-billion-in-global-logistics-and-takes-a-controlling-stake-in-cainiao/#2d059b3ea034

4) Sky News (Youtube Channel): Death of the High St & takeover of Amazon Fulfilment Warehouses run by robots in UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2nu8M7DQkk&feature=youtu.be

Subsidised Post

1) Nordic European countries are rallying behind Donald Trump against century-old UPU postal rules that give Chinese e-commerce giants like Alibaba an edge over rivals in the West.

https://www.politico.eu/article/nordics-rally-to-trump-over-postal-rules-and-chinese-e-commerce/

2) USA to leave UPU

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-to-leave-global-postal-union-next-month

3) UPU Reform’s it subsided Post. The U.S. Postal Service was effectively spending $300 million to $500 million to subsidise the cost of delivering imports, including goods mailed to the United States from China.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-un-postal/u-n-postal-union-clinches-deal-to-keep-u-s-in-club-idUKKBN1WA2G7