PayPal now requires you to upload your Canadian Tax Return to prove your address

[2fiftyrecords]

Warning to all Canadian PayPal business users. Paypal apparently has a new policy that asks you to confirm your identity due to new Govt. of Canada rules. This is not a scam, hoax or phising thing, this is legit from PayPal. The only way that they will let you do this is by uploading your entire tax return (must be downloaded from the CRA website. You can not just scan the first page and block out the financial info). Again, this is not a joke or a hoax. They will notify you of the need for this information and will immediately block your account until you provide it. You will not be able to withdraw any money until you do nor will you be able to print shipping labels or pay fees from your PayPal account. The need to confirm your identity is legit but to demand someones tax return is not. Over 5 hours on the phone, email etc and my account is still blocked after 2 weeks and have been told point-blank that they will not allow me access to my money unless I supply my entire tax return. (I have offered to provide a copy of my drivers license or other form of ID but they will only accept a tax return, assessment or Student account statement from a college or University (and obviously I am not a student). Get your money out now while you still can!

[reallynicestamps]

Could you show us a screenshot of that demand?

It has been the policy of Revenue Canada that unless the card holder is in a financial transaction no one is allowed to ask for your Social Insurance Number, never mind your tax return.

Personally, I would not only be refusing, but reporting the email(?) to

http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/

[2fiftyrecords]

[2fiftyrecords]

The problem is that they block your account without warning. I have several hundred dollars (luckily, as I had several thousand dollars in there just days before but made a withdrawal) that they refuse to give me access to until I provide my tax return. They told me point blank that I can not get my money from them unless I supply my tax return. I have offered other forms of ID but they will only accept what is in the above screen shot. In addition, even if I tell them to go to hell and refuse, how am I supposed to accept payments going forward? Note that I have been using this account for over three years without incident. There was nothing about my account that warranted special treatment or scrutiny. No fraud, no complaints, no issues at all. This is going to happen to ALL Canadian PayPal users and I was just one of the 'lucky' first ones according to PayPal.

[ypdc_dennis]

Many businesses file a business tax form with a company tax number.

I assume you are running this all through your personal taxes rather than as a company?

Does paypal accept GST/HST registration with Revenue Canada as ID?

=..=

[2fiftyrecords]

No, I am a sole-proprietor and operate as a business. I have a business number and GST and PST Numbers (which I have provided to PayPal) and also a business bank account (Bank statement provided to PayPal) I report all my income from eBay/Discogs etc. Now they want my personal tax returns and they will want everyone to do the same even if your account has been open for years.

[cumos55]

This may only apply to a specific type of  account...

It is the Canada Revenue Agency asking for information from Paypal

There is no reverse....  where Paypal make a request for tax information 

From Paypal.......PayPal has received a Federal Court order, which requires us to disclose information to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) about PayPal Business account holders that have received or sent a payment through their account during the relevant reporting period between January 1, 2014 to November 21, 2017. This content has been updated to reflect the correct period of January 1, 2014 to November 21, 2017.

There is something here that just does not sound... or... feel correct

[cumos55]

The only reference to Paypal on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) site  relates to the use of Paypal to pay money owed to CRA.,,, based on the information on the tax form forwarded to CRA.

Just checked my email record and found no email received......dealing with this situation.

The only conclusion is to   contact Paypal directly  and not through the email received in relation to the request.

[cumos55]

From Paypal.... about a confirmed address.....

What is a confirmed address?

A confirmed address is one that has been validated by PayPal. We confirm addresses to help:

• Guard against stolen credit cards.
• Verify your identity.
• Decrease chances of receiving a fraud-related chargeback.

To validate an address, we ensure that the buyer's credit card billing and shipping address are the same, or we examine the buyer's PayPal account history and confirm the address.

[cumos55]

I do remember that I had to do something to have Paypal confirm what my address was.. 

That occurred many, many, many..... years ago.

Could it have been Paypal sending me a "bill"  , and then my paying of the bill with my credit card?

[kawartha-ephemera]

There should be a simple solution here....requesting a persons tax return is not reasonable and I would not comply.
Back in the day it was common practice for investment / brokerage firms to require new clients to submit a signed bank cheque for a nominal amount, usually just 1 or 2 dollars when opening new accounts. The brokerage cashed the cheque which of course proved your identity. In fact I'm positive many years ago PayPal had me mail them a cheque to prove my identify when opening a business account with them.

[reallynicestamps]

@kawartha-ephemera 

Paypal asked for my bank account info, then THEY put a tiny amount (20 cents?) into the account.

I then told them how much the amount was, they confirmed me, and took back the 20 cents.

I agree that contacting Paypal directly and NOT through the emails would be the next step.

And ask tyler@ebay  about this in tomorrow's grouch session. Although PP is not a part of eBay any longer.

I take it that the OP does not sell much on this account since he has had it since 1999 but has only 2 selling FB in the past year......

Oh.

Actually, PP may be worried that the account which has not been used much, has been hacked.

That would explain the frozen account and the unusual demand for identification.

[cumos55]

OP's ID was used to make purchases many years ago.

The ID was changed  and OP started selling with this new  ID.

It might have been better to start as a seller with a totally new ID.

[ichopshop]

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@2fiftyrecords wrote:

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So as I read this it's asking for one of these things as proof of address.  Paypal's not demanding any one document, just offering you a list of options.

Ian

[ricarmic]

The tax assessment is the wee 2 page or so document they generate after one files ones taxes that would be much easier to scan and send than the return (For those of us who still get the assessments mailed to us)

I seem to remember having some sort of fiasco around this a few months ago too. (and I've been with PAYPAL since it was created!!!!). I don't remember what I did but I called and everyone was happy after that -so far at least!

[towertreasuretrove]

No business account, no problem...I assume.

[2fiftyrecords]

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@cumos55 wrote:

I do remember that I had to do something to have Paypal confirm what my address was.. 

That occurred many, many, many..... years ago.

Could it have been Paypal sending me a "bill"  , and then my paying of the bill with my credit card?

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Cumos55 - There seems to be some confusion be some confusion and so allow me to clarify.

All of the information that I have shared is directly from PayPal and not second hand information or rumour. The information applies to ALL Canadian PayPal accounts that are for business use. It does not apply to personal PayPal accounts at this time. There is nothing special or unique about my PayPal account.

I did not find out about this via an email. In fact, there has been a spam email going around for years that pretends to be from PayPal and asks you to click on a link and supply more information to lift the restriction on your account. This is a phishing scam and not the same as what I am talking about.

I found out about this when I logged into my PayPal account and tried to print a shipping label to fulfil a customer order. I found that my account was blocked from making any transactions and there was a message that 'Before you can complete any transactions, you need to verify that you are the account holder. Please visit the Identity Confirmation Dashboard to find out what information we need.' It then asks you a series of questions and the final stage is that you have to upload a document to prove your address. I have already gone through the process of verifying my address many years ago when I opened the account using the small debit/credit to my credit card. I probably also provided other information at that time I am sure. This has nothing to do with obtaining a 'Confirmed Address' which I believe is only for US PayPal accounts.

Yes, I did change my eBay ID a few years ago but this has nothing to do with this. This PayPal account has remain unchanged for years and while I have only recently started actively selling through eBay, I have used this PayPal account for many years through my own online store and through the Discogs website. Through those channels I have over a thousand transactions on my PayPal account. Also, I have a 100% rating on all those accounts and have never had any issue, complaints or cases on my PayPal account. This came completely out of the blue.

[2fiftyrecords]

I agree, there should be a simple solution here but there is not. You can of course refuse to comply with submitting your tax return (which I have) but then they will freeze your account and not allow you to make any transactions. Nor will they let you withdraw any money in the account.

I have offered to supply some other form of ID and am quite happy to provide my drivers license, passport, utility bill or alternative but the only option they give you really is your tax return.

[2fiftyrecords]

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@ichopshop wrote:

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@2fiftyrecords wrote:

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So as I read this it's asking for one of these things as proof of address.  Paypal's not demanding any one document, just offering you a list of options.

Ian

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When they freeze your account and refuse to let you make any transaction or withdraw your money unless you provide a specific document then I consider that a demand. The drop down appears to give you a list of options but it all boils down to the same thing unless you are a student. They will get all of your tax return information.

You can of course refuse to comply with submitting your tax return (which I have) but then they will freeze your account and not allow you to make any transactions. Nor will they let you withdraw any money in the account.

I have offered to supply some other form of ID and am quite happy to provide my drivers license, passport, utility bill or alternative but the only option they give you really is your tax return.

[2fiftyrecords]

ricarmic - PayPal will not accept a scanned document. They will only accept a document that has been directly downloaded from the CRA website. These pdf's have some digital encryption that do not allow you to edit or modify them. That means that you can't scan your tax assessment and block out the financial info or only send them the first page.

In the downloaded digital version it is 4 - 5 pages (in my case) and basically contains every line of your tax return and all your tax return information.

I too have had my PayPal account for many, many years without any problems. This came completely out of the blue.