The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has published an interesting article on its web site, E-Commerce: The Taxman Cometh…Or Does He?, as part of its Knowledge@Wharton Newsletter. Here is the abstract:

As the April 15 deadline for filing taxes in the U.S. approaches, several eBay "power sellers" — those who make a tidy sum each year auctioning items on the site — are nervous about a crackdown by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The issue, however, goes far beyond just eBay or even income tax, according to experts at Wharton and elsewhere. As the volume of e-commerce transactions increases, so does the temptation to put the tax bite on them.