Abstract: Age authentication and management of taxes for a merchant. The merchant can verify the age of a customer based on the customer's use of a smartcard that is obtained from a validation authority. The smartcard may contain a certificate related to the age of the user. By utilizing the smartcard, the user can go to an online, virtual, or brick-and-mortar merchant and buy goods requiring age restrictions. When the customer proceeds to purchase a good or service requiring age verification, the merchant's application can obtain information from the smartcard and request from the validation authority information authenticating the user's age. Further, the validation authority may also remit and pay taxes on behalf of the merchant based on the location of the merchant and other information stored in a merchant profile.