The Chancellor, John Healey, is reported to be planning to make online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Temu responsible for collecting the VAT owed by sellers on their platforms. The report comes from The Times, as carried by City AM.
The Times reports that the measure would raise about £1bn, which would pay for business rates cuts for high-street retailers. Under the reported plan, marketplaces would collect VAT at source for sellers with annual revenue above £90,000.
Dan Neidle of Tax Policy Associates told The Times that the loophole will persist unless the threshold is lower.
"Unless that happens these Chinese sham companies will find just another way around the rules."
The measure has not been confirmed. A Reuters factbox of likely Budget measures, published on 27 October, still lists it as a Times report. The £1bn revenue figure has not been independently checked.
Healey delivers the Budget to the Commons on Wednesday 28 October.