- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
From:
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060412IRSGivenGoAheadToSeekPayPalInfo.html
IRS Given Go-Ahead To Seek PayPal Info
Jason Lee Miller
Staff Writer
Published: 2006-04-12The honeymoon may be over for PayPal clients using their accounts to funnel money from offshore and avoid the Internal Revenue Service. A federal court in California granted the IRS permission to seek account information from the eBay-owned company.
The IRS’ request covers PayPal transactions between 1999 and 2004, according to the Associated Press. The US tax enforcement agency is looking for Americans suspected of using foreign issued credit and debit cards in conjunction with PayPal accounts to launder money.
More specifically, the IRS has its eye on over 30 offshore financial institutions thought to be tax shelters. As reported in October by David Utter, the IRS contends that over $40 billion in tax revenue has gone missing – most likely in counties with lax money transfer regulations and bank secrecy laws preventing US investigations.
The IRS has already obtained credit card numbers with the aid of major credit card companies but, says the AP, the numbers could not be matched with card holders. Investigators hope information supplied by PayPal will close the gap.
A PayPal spokeswoman said the eBay subsidiary was still evaluating options on how to respond to the government’s request, citing customer privacy as a serious consideration
In 2005, PayPal handled over $27.5 billion in money transfers between 100 million global account holders.
Sounds reasonable … if you earn cash … then expect to pay tax.
:huh:You shouldn’t be avoiding taxes, that’s definitely not a smart strategy in the US. However, I do have an issue with the government forcing a company to blindly hand over people’s information. It would be one thing if it were a list of individuals that were suspected, but to just blanketly request all of PayPal’s transaction data over 5 years is scary. It’s the privacy issues that concern me.
What privacty issues … what are you hiding my friend?
:roflmao:No – I’m not quite serious there – but that is often the reaction when reading that item. But we know in modern life there are only two certain things … DEATH and TAXES. (neither of which are very pleasant).
sneaky2.giIn the modern world TAXES are essential for our society to function. I do not beleive that people should expect to have the right to have financial transations “hiding” from legitimate government scrutiny.
Certainly your main banking records are open to scrutiny. You know that and accept that. And paypal is simply another form of financial institution.
Of course – I do expect that this details are treated confidentially, and securely by the government organisations involved …
:huh2:The only transactions that remains confidential are either CASH or those Swiss bank accounts (I must get me one of those soon)
:laughing:
… and of course that new American money has micro-chips in it … so they probably can trace that too.
:laughing:(DISCLAIMER : Not all of that above post is true – yet ….)
While I know you weren’t quite serious, I’ll respond anyway. PayPal once was the on-ramp for people interested in gambling online. The government wants records of people’s transactions going back to 1999. What’s to keep the government from saying “hmm, we weren’t looking for this information originally, but now we have all these people who are ‘illegally’ gambling online, let’s prosecute a few of them”.
Personally, I don’t have anything to hide, but I’m just not that trusting of the US government when it comes to having so much information on it’s citizens. Yesterday they wanted Google and Yahoo’s search data, today they want PayPal’s transaction data, tomorrow who knows. It’s more that it’s a slippery slope.
Well me for one being a US born Citizen of course does not trust the goverment. I mean 35% of my income goes to who knows what. I am devistated that billions is going to a bogus war where thousands of my American brothers are being killed for an energy crisis that could be better spent in seeking alternative resources.
But, I’m on The Gooner bandwagon. I need to pay my taxes. I want to pay my taxes. If I have a paypal account with a debit/credit card and I am not reporting I am guilty of tax fraud. More so If I have a Neteller account (which doesn’t report to the IRS) I still better be reporting that income. It’s a real messed up world right now and it most likely will not heal soon. It’s just the same as if you tythe to your church. Youv’e done your part. What the leaders do is on them, not you. Do it, forget about it and lead a good life outside of prison walls.
Okay it’s 1:am I’m now climbing off my box and I will check back in at a more appropriate hour :wavey:
