IRS tells PayPal to cough up credit card info

Posted April 28, 2008 at 02:54 PM by Sue Walsh

Section: Web, Websites

PayPal has been asked by the IRS via court order to provide records regarding the use of offshore credit cards. The request is part of the IRS’s off shore compliance program.  Many members of the online gambling community are protesting the action, calling it violation of Internet privacy. PayPal was involved with online gambling from 2000-2001, but the IRS claims they are simply trying to bust tax evaders who failed to report offshore accounts. While the popular online payment system says they value their member’s privacy, they have agreed to turn over the records, saying they feel obligated to do so.

“In my opinion this is a huge breach of personal privacy - they should not be allowed to comb through citizens’ accounts on a fishing expedition for illegal activity,” one tax consultant told Gambling911.com, asking to remain anonymous.  “I have a feeling, that while they were only in the gambling industry for a year - information obtained from this sweep could be used to nail a lot of people on unclaimed income.”

The order came from the US District Court for the Northern District of California and was entitled “In The Matters of the Tax Liabilities of John Does.”

Read [Gambling911]