
04-30-2019 07:55 PM
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!
05-02-2019 03:39 PM
@towertreasuretrove wrote:No business account, no problem...I assume.
As long as you are reporting your income.
05-02-2019 04:00 PM - edited 05-02-2019 04:01 PM
Great advice but unfortunately does not work for me. Firstly, on my account on the CRA website the only document that I can download is my tax assessment. I can view my CRA statement on the page but there is no way to download this as a pdf. I see no mention anywhere on my account of downloading a tax receipt (perhaps because I received a refund and had no tax owing?)
As noted before, I have already supplied my business registration documentation and they are not asking for that information. They say that they only want to confirm my address.
As far as the drop down is concerned, its not a multi-stage process. You have to pick one of the options listed and if you select 'tax assessment' and then try to upload a scanned document then it will not let you (that is why it says error in my screen shot). It then tells you that it will only accept documents that have been downloaded directly from the CRA website. Therefore, my only option is to upload my entire tax assessment to PayPal. It gives me no other via option.
Have reported this to the CRA but have not heard back. Have filed a formal complaint with the FCAC (Financial Consumer Agency of Canada) and others. Have reported to various media companies (i.e. CBC) and they have investigated and are working on a story about this as they have confirmed my story. However, in the mean-time almost three weeks on and my account is still blocked and despite my emails to the compliance dept. at PayPal (they apparently do not accept phone calls) they only reply with a boiler-plate email that contradicts itself about what documents they accept. Calls to PayPal limitations department only lead to 'you have to email the compliance dept. about this.'
05-03-2019 01:39 PM
*** UPDATE ***
This morning I received an email to say that my account is magically un-blocked without me supplying any more information.
No explanation, no apology. Just a boiler plate email that is probably the same as you would get when you open an account 'Welcome to PayPal, now you can send money to more than 100 million buyers in 190 countries' etc etc
What a colossal waste of my time!
Thanks to everyone here for your advice and support. I hope that none of you have to go through the same ordeal.
Colin
01-02-2021 07:15 PM
Thanks for posting this. So is Paypal complying with a federal gov request or are they just collecting personal info?
01-02-2021 08:38 PM
ZOMBIE THREAD FROM 2019
The problem with zombie threads is that the information and advice may be out of date and incorrect.
If you have a specific question, it is best to start your own thread.
01-07-2021 08:57 AM
01-07-2021 10:53 AM - edited 01-07-2021 10:54 AM
ZOMBIE THREAD from 2019...
ZOMBIE THREADS are not always very helpful if there is not current info referencing current applicable solutions...so if u have a question/comment relating to the subject it is quite appropriate to start your own thread to address your issue/problem..
01-07-2021 01:59 PM
Since there doesn’t appear to have been any new reports of this in the past 2 years it’s likely that the information is not being required by PayPal.
01-07-2021 08:22 PM
They do.
01-07-2021 09:14 PM
01-07-2021 11:42 PM
Hi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.