Don't look now, but tax time is creeping toward us once again. If you're tired of hearing about the many ways in which eBay complicates your tax life, take a few minutes before tax season begins in earnest to imagine the ways eBay can improve your tax life. Believe it or not, there are some.

See Also

     • How does eBay affect my taxes?
     • eBay Sellers and Tax Changes

As eBay's marketplace business continues to struggle with stagnation and competition in ways that it didn't throughout the 1990s, PayPal has taken center stage as eBay's engine of growth. The jury remains out, however, on its future, with some arguing it to be a strength and others suggesting that it's ripe for obsolescence. More at:

     • Business Spectator
     • Delimiter

eBay and PayPal have recently added several important figures pulled from the significant ranks of other prominent industry players: Scott Prevost, Microsoft's Bing development manager and Dennis DeCoste, a research scientist from Facebook, are both joining eBay to enhance its search platform, while prominent Apple designer Sarah Brody will join PayPal to work on user interface design. More at:

     • CNet
     • Apple Insider

Meanwhile, newly imposed guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India threaten to stem to growth of Indian entrepreneurship on eBay, inasmuch as it depends on the ability for buyers and sellers to use PayPal for their transactions. More at:

     • DNA India
     • The Associated Press

Last week eBay reported strong growth in its PayPal and marketplace businesses, the latter suggesting that efforts to turn the state of the business around with strategy and policy shifts may be bearing fruit. eBay also issued an optimistic forecast for 2011 performance that has had analysts buzzing, predicting a $10.6bn year ahead. More at:

     • Bloomberg Businessweek
     • Wall Street Journal
     • Reuters