PayPal Gift payments not allowed anymore

[4pm]

I can see mods enforce new restriction across marketplace threads - No Paypal Gift payments anymore as it is against Paypal TOS

That's totally understandable and all but can we please have this rule announced somewhere in big red letters so everyone can see and follow. I have used this option in all my threads and the majority of other sellers too as far as I know never suspecting any wrongdoing.. so I was quite surprised to read mod's comments in others' threads about it suddenly became no-no..

..or did I miss the announcement?


thanks

 

[Eric Lyon]

It's not new, Gift payments haven't been allowed here for at least 4+ years. You can find the rule in the TOS you agreed to when you signed up as well as just about every marketplace forum rules page which you agreed to follow being a member here.

TOS and Rule #5 in marketplace forums reads as such: 5. NO PayPal fees may be charged to buyers Nor can you ask a buyer to pay via gift which avoids taxes and may be considered Tax Fraud! Per PayPal's TOS

Paying via gift for services & or products is seen to paypal (A banking institution) as a form of Tax Fraud / Evasion since it manipulates their system and effects purchase tax guidelines issued by the internal revenue service (IRS - A Federal Institution) and other countries tax agencies. The problem is so serious that some countries governments and paypal blocked all their users from being able to use a free gift payment anymore (E.G. India). It's our hopes that other countries don't end up getting blocked from free gifts due to a handful of paypal users that continue to manipulate the tax system.

Thanks for understanding,

Eric Lyon

 

[mis_chiff]

4 years? really?
I only recall that the Seller cannot request the buyer to pay the Paypal fees, which was enforced here for a few years,
but I don't recall the Gift option being enforced till Paypal removed it from their dashboard, less than a year ago

but good to know ....

 

[Eric Lyon]

4 years? really?
I only recall that the Seller cannot request the buyer to pay the Paypal fees, which was enforced here for a few years,
but I don't recall the Gift option being enforced till Paypal removed it from their dashboard, less than a year ago

but good to know ....

We still have it on our dashboard as an option in the USA. They must of added your country to the free gift block list :/

Eric Lyon

 

[mis_chiff]

Canada? wow...wonder why - I noticed it 3 weeks ago when I went to use it

 

[Eric Lyon]

Canada? wow...wonder why - I noticed it 3 weeks ago when I went to use it

Not sure, paypal can be weird anyways with their policy's. It might be your government that requested it. That's what happened with other countries like India, it was the actual government that approached paypal and requested it to try & acquire more taxes from resident users.

It may also just be the pre-planning phase for the new tax laws that will be hitting within the next few years in several countries that will allow the government to have more control over taxable internet funds.

Eric Lyon

 

[mis_chiff]

Thanks for the update

I'll have to ask my sister why it was changed - she works for Revenue Canada [] lol

 

[Eric Lyon]

Thanks for the update

I'll have to ask my sister why it was changed - she works for Revenue Canada [] lol

I'm not sure if you guys have a similar tax law already regarding online payment processors, however in the USA (for the last few years anyways) the IRS has required payment processors such as but not limited to Paypal, ePay, eGold, BidPay, AlertPay, PayStone, MoneyBookers, etc.. report earnings on all accounts that either Make $20k or more or conduct 200+ or more transactions in one tax year.

Thats been going on a while now, but there's other tax propositions the governments been making to dig deeper into cyber taxation. Ebay (owned by paypal) actually sent out a notice a few days ago asking it's members to vote against the new tax laws being proposed that would cripple small businesses.

Eric Lyon

---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

Here's an added reference of an article I wrote / compiled on USA internet taxes a few months ago for the business section: http://www.namepros.com/business-development/779754-u-s-irs-domain-business-tax.html

 

[RazorNF]

eBay has been turning over info on Power Sellers to Revenue Canada for quite a few years now...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/ebay-to-report-power-sellers-to-revenue-agency-1.343569

It wouldn't be that far fetched, given that Paypal owns eBay, that they may eventually widen the magnifying glass on Canadian Paypal account holders in general.