Perhaps the budget deficit is getting too large. The IRS is trying to get Ebay (EBAY) to turn over records on its customers, especially the larger ones, so that the IRS can go after those who have not paid taxes on their auction transactions. What fun. Getting a company to rat out its own.

Ebay is fighting the move, but the government seems determined to go after merchants, especially those who have transactions of over $5,000 a year.

The government may have a point. Tax evasion is a serious business. And so why shouldn’t Ebay potentially poison its relationship with thousands of customers?  It would be patriotic.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.