Paypal users

[Phlegm]

with offshore accounts, the IRS is coming for you. From Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service won approval from a federal court to ask PayPal to turn over information about people who might be evading taxes by hiding income in other countries, officials said Tuesday.

A federal court in San Jose, California, gave the IRS permission to ask PayPal Inc. -- a company that enables online money transfers -- for account information for American taxpayers who have bank accounts, credit cards or debit cards issued by financial institutions in more than 30 countries reputed to be tax havens.

PayPal spokeswoman Amanda Pires said the company just received the summons.

"We're still evaluating our options," she said. "The privacy of our customers' information is something we take really seriously."

PayPal enables individuals and businesses around the globe to send and receive money online. In 2005, users moved $27.5 billion through the money transmitter. The company, owned by eBay Inc., has 100 million account holders globally.

The request for information is an outgrowth of an IRS effort, begun several years ago, to trace money that American taxpayers hold offshore to avoid paying taxes. The IRS said many of those taxpayers access their money through credit and debit cards. The tax collectors have already obtained information from some credit card companies, merchants and payment processors.

"PayPal is another one of the mechanisms by which money stashed overseas might be spent," Eileen O'Connor, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Tax Division, told reporters.

In some cases, the IRS obtained credit card numbers but could not identify the cardholder. The IRS said PayPal might be able to lead the tax agency to those individuals.

The IRS also hopes PayPal can help them identify currently unknown taxpayers' and their payment cards, as well as offshore bank accounts, that might be evidence of tax evasion.

The request covers transactions occurring from 1999 through 2004.

A 2003 amnesty program netted $170 million in taxes and penalties from income hidden offshore. More than 1,300 taxpayers avoided criminal prosecution by coming forward and revealing the person or company that marketed the offshore arrangement.

[kaharthemad]

in otherwords...Lets see if we can find a way to fuck the customer out of more money. These money grubbing fuckholes need to be wiped from the face of the earth.

[Lueyen]

in otherwords...Lets see if we can find a way to fuck the customer out of more money. These money grubbing fuckholes need to be wiped from the face of the earth.

If only we really were "customers" of the IRS... we could take our business else where!!!

[kaharthemad]

amen

[Tikker]

yeah it sucks when the government wants you to chip in and pay for all the rights and freedoms you enjoy

[Harrison]

You are so fucking clueless. Leave American discussions to those of us LIVING in the U.S.

[Tikker]

I can't help that you're a dipshit Harrison

do you even KNOW what the discussion is about?

[Harrison]

No, I am obviously incapable of reading.

I am also incapable of understanding concepts about things going on in my country you know little to nothing about.

[Tikker]

yes, because taxation of income is incredibly difficult to understand

[Martrae]

There are better ways to tax other than by income. There are better ways to spend the money they collect already.

[Lueyen]

yeah it sucks when the government wants you to chip in and pay for all the rights and freedoms you enjoy

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The founders of our government and Americans in general hold those words very closely. We do not pay for our rights and freedoms, they are given to all people by their creator, without possibility of revocation. Even the penniless bum on the streets is guaranteed these rights, regardless if they have ever paid a dime in taxes. So not only do I think it would suck for the government to want anyone to pay for their rights and freedoms, I'd find it an affront to some of the basic premises on which this nation was founded.

That being said, I don't really have an issue with the IRS trying to stop various methods of tax evasion, my comment was more toward the idea of being a "customer" of the IRS, with the usual benefits that would entail. Of course we do have the option to take our business elsewhere at least in a manner of speaking, we can always move...

[Diekan]

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are watching American Idol, Survivor, flunking out of high school, and not giving a flying fuck what goes on in our country as long as we can sit on our fat, lazy, ignorant asses and watch Oprah uninterupted.

That's more like the America of today.

[Jay]

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are watching American Idol, Survivor, flunking out of high school, and not giving a flying fuck what goes on in our country as long as we can sit on our fat, lazy, ignorant asses and watch Oprah uninterupted.

That's more like the America of today.

Yeah pretty much.

[Tikker]

There are better ways to tax other than by income. There are better ways to spend the money they collect already.

that's not really the issue tho

the current standard is to tax by income, and people whining because they're secret hidey hole has been found is tiresome

[kaharthemad]

yeah and luckily people like you were not leading the rebellion that dumped tea in the harbour. The people believe that they were being taxed unfairly and frankly it is the same here. Most people are to simply stupid to look each week at there earnings statement to see how much money is being sucked out of thier paycheck. If we had done income tax like it was done prior to WWII there would be a nationwide tax revolt in this country with alot of heads hanging on pikes.

Nowadays we have to pay for the useless bums on the street, we have to pay for the welfare brood mare to squeeze out another kid, cant forget the bluehairs...they haven't planned ahead so now we have to give them money out of our pockets in the form of social security. Oh wait, forgot that is such a great retirement plan, nothing like a negative return investment.

Now here comes the governemnt and they would like to try and tax off shore accounts...

How much of this money that they are gonna scrape out of us is going to go to fixing the tax burden of the middle and upper class? How much of it is going to go to fixing the 15000 pages of tax documentation in this country? How much of it is going to pad the wallets of Senators and representatives that have been sent up there to do a fucking job, not to cater to special interest groups? How much of it will be sent to some stupid government hand out studying cattle farts and the negative impact they are having on the ozone?

[Tikker]

that's seriously some of the stupidest shit you've ever posted Kahar

I can't believe you're comparing the boston tea party to taxing offshore accounts~


whining about what the tax is spent on is a whole other ball of wax(and doesn't really have fuck all to do with it)

[Lyion]

Why punish paypal for what thousands of business' are doing with other entities.

Hello, consistency. This is a good idea, except its not being done to everyone.

[Agrajag]

that's seriously some of the stupidest shit you've ever posted Kahar

I can't believe you're comparing the boston tea party to taxing offshore accounts~


whining about what the tax is spent on is a whole other ball of wax(and doesn't really have fuck all to do with it)

Aren't you Canadian? STFU about the U.S. You worry about maple syrup and Celene Dion, m'kay.

[Tikker]

that's seriously some of the stupidest shit you've ever posted Kahar

I can't believe you're comparing the boston tea party to taxing offshore accounts~


whining about what the tax is spent on is a whole other ball of wax(and doesn't really have fuck all to do with it)

Aren't you Canadian? STFU about the U.S. You worry about maple syrup and Celene Dion, m'kay.

feel free to contribute something to the conversation rather than just being a douche~

[Agrajag]

that's seriously some of the stupidest shit you've ever posted Kahar

I can't believe you're comparing the boston tea party to taxing offshore accounts~


whining about what the tax is spent on is a whole other ball of wax(and doesn't really have fuck all to do with it)

Aren't you Canadian? STFU about the U.S. You worry about maple syrup and Celene Dion, m'kay.

feel free to contribute something to the conversation rather than just being a douche~

Kind of like your contribution? I thought douche was your title in this thread?

[kaharthemad]

that's seriously some of the stupidest shit you've ever posted Kahar

I can't believe you're comparing the boston tea party to taxing offshore accounts~


whining about what the tax is spent on is a whole other ball of wax(and doesn't really have fuck all to do with it)

no, let me try and bring it down to a level even a stupid canadian can understand.

1. The way they are taxing was, up untill 1943 Illegal. it was set in place as a war time initative. The Tax withholding initative was setup at that time to fund the war machine. Currently in 1943 the income tax structure was around 7.25 percent across the board. After the tax witholding iniative was setup and structured, the tax on middle class homes jumped to 15 percent over the next 12 years. The Country was supposed to reset back to stadard tax system after 1953 but that tax system was never repealed as promised. 2. The main people who rebelled during the founding of the country, (that's the country below you protecting you retarded moronic eskimos from being nuked), was in fact the middle and upper classes who reblled against the british for eccessive tax rates and improper taxation without representation, and of course the mistreatment of the land owners and the colonists.

Lets break down what we have today....

The country is on one of the highest tax burdens since the instatement of the Income tax.

Currently the tax system is skewed with over 15000 pages of tax laws. This creates a cumbersome tax system where money is not being setup properly. taxes go from 0 percent (poor) to the top 10 percent shourldering approx. 69 percent and or higher of the tax burden in this country. Also the middle class is shouldering most of the rest.


Of course the concept of a tax revolt to your socialist ideals miniscule at best.

What I was bringing up that you so plainly could not grasp, was the fact that changing the tax laws again to add this tax situation will prolly add about 1000 more pages to a already unstable and non viable tax system. There are no checks and balances for the IRS at present, and no plans in the future to allow a checks and balance system. This allows them to go after whatever they deem is taxable under thier laws.



Off my soap box a second...someone correct me if I am wrong, but arent internet sales non taxable according to the tax laws set for in 1995?

[Tikker]

you just make me giggle hardcore IRL Kahar~

[Lyion]

This is a good discussion. It'd be even better without the personal attacks.

[Tikker]

so what's the core of the discussion


IRS wants people to declare income via paypal, but some feel this shouldn't be taxed, yes?

[Lyion]

PayPal enables individuals and businesses around the globe to send and receive money online. In 2005, users moved $27.5 billion through the money transmitter. The company, owned by eBay Inc., has 100 million account holders globally.

The request for information is an outgrowth of an IRS effort, begun several years ago, to trace money that American taxpayers hold offshore to avoid paying taxes. The IRS said many of those taxpayers access their money through credit and debit cards. The tax collectors have already obtained information from some credit card companies, merchants and payment processors.

"PayPal is another one of the mechanisms by which money stashed overseas might be spent," Eileen O'Connor, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Tax Division, told reporters.

Fighting Tax Evasion is good, but I think there are limits into how this should be accomplished. Also, most banks will not provide overseas records because that information is subject to the laws of the countries where the account is open. Paypal should be given that same leeway.

Now, if the IRS are also auditing banks and doing the same thing to local branches here, its consistent. If they are hitting Paypal because it's based here and has branches overseas, then it's not consistent, and not fair.

The IRS does not have rights to grab anything it wants because it thinks something is wrong. That is the antithesis of the rights of the individual. Show us wrongdoing, then ask for the materials.