PayPal to begin giving the IRS PayPal users account information

[FrankRep]

PayPal to begin giving the IRS PayPal users account information

Friends of Liberty


Notice of IRS Summons

Dear *My Name*,

PayPal has received a summons from the United States Internal Revenue Service requiring us to produce various account records, including data related to your PayPal account. PayPal understands the summons relates to the IRS' offshore compliance program in which the IRS has sought information about offshore credit card accounts from a number of companies. Your privacy is extremely important to PayPal. PayPal is obligated, however, to turn over the requested data. PayPal has been ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to provide the information to the IRS, and PayPal expects to begin providing this information to the IRS on January 10, 2008. The summons and court order both issue from the United States District Court in an action entitled: In The Matters of the Tax Liabilities of John Does, Case No. CV-05-04176-JW.

If you have any concerns about the disclosure of this information, you should consult with your tax or legal advisor. You may have rights in connection with the summons, including the right to seek to prevent the IRS from obtaining some or all of the information. The statute of limitations that limits the time in which the IRS may assert tax liabilities against you may be suspended beginning on the date which is six months after the IRS served the summons upon PayPal and continuing until PayPal finally resolves its response to the IRS. See 26 U.S.C. § 7609(e)(2). PayPal cannot provide you with legal advice. If you have questions concerning the summons and court order, we encourage you to contact the IRS, your tax advisor and/or your attorney. If you wish to contact the Internal Revenue Service regarding this matter, they can be reached at (215) 516-4777.

Thank You,

The PayPal Legal Team


SOURCE
http://sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3332

[apc3161]

I wonder why PayPal didn't send out a mass email. This might catch a lot of people off guard if it's true.

[trispear]

In America, Paypal is not officially a bank and as such doesn't have to follow the same rules: for example:

At most, if a bank does not like your business, it can refuse to open you an account or ask you to remove your account. YOUR assets will always be available to you, barring government freezing your account.

At Paypal, if they decide they don't like your business (say you sell adult toys or whatever), they can freeze your account and assets indefinitely and arbitrarily. Sometimes they can even seize portions of money and return them to buyers who recieved the items and did not file a complaint but merely because Paypal itself objected to the transaction (had this happen to a friend).

I encourage anyone who has an account to consider not keeping assets there. Don't even give Paypal access to your main bank account for deposits. At your local bank or another bank: open a secondary account where Paypal will make a deposit. Then you can promptly transfer that money into your primary -- and the empty secondary account will act as a barrier to Paypal's claws.

http://paypalsucks.com/

[Wendi]

^^ It's much simpler to either (a) follow the rules that you agree to when you set up an account with paypal, or (b) don't use paypal if you don't like their rules.

Isn't the free market great? :D

[angelatc]

YOu have to understand that the PayPal User agreement is far too long to actually read, and they update it periodically. It is the type of company that, in a Ron Paul world, consumer groups would make money by warning people about.

I am on hiatus these days, but I am a seasoned eBay seller and I've been with PayPal since they were X.com.

They will give your information to anybody who faxes them a request on law enforcement letterhead. It is that simple.


They are a financial disaster waiting to happen. They invest customer funds in high risk accounts, and the money is not insured, like it is in a bank.

When the economy tanks, Paypal is going to take a small hit, PayPal customers will take big hits, and they will cry that it should have been regulated.

They are dangerous and irresponsible, and have no accountability.

Ironically, their founder, Peter Theil, is a Ron Paul supporter. :)

[trispear]

^^ It's much simpler to either (a) follow the rules that you agree to when you set up an account with paypal, or (b) don't use paypal if you don't like their rules.

Isn't the free market great? :D
Ebay owns Paypal. Ebay has a mindshare monopoly in online auctions. Ebay integrated Paypal into it's auctions and I think prohibits other online payment methods (google checkout).

I think I will keep my system as it is. There are economic theories and then there are economic realities.