Should Marketplaces Police Stolen Goods?

Although there’s comparatively less sales tax fraud in this country, there are plenty of fraudulent sales — and some lawmakers think it’s time marketplace facilitators help prevent it.

To help prevent someone from selling stolen goods on a marketplace, California and several other states want marketplaces to obtain and share the names and contact information of high-volume marketplace sellers.

Growing tax gaps have pushed many countries to implement electronic invoicing and value-added tax (VAT) reporting requirements. In some places, like Brazil, tax authorities must approve invoices before they can be passed to the customer. The United States has lagged in this area, in part because state sales tax gaps are primarily due to sellers failing to register as required, not fraudulent activity.