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I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

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Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#241

Post by eli »

punkbit wrote: post #216
tedunangst wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming you're selling the toys in the US. If you're selling them in somewhereelseistan, then you probably don't have a US paypal account and none of this matters. Unless you are using a US paypal account, in which case, whoopsie, should have sorted that out ahead of time. Don't funnel money through a country if you're not doing business in that country.

So, I bought new toys and had to pay tax. After some years I decide to sell it, I need to pay taxes for my old stuff ?!?!

Yes, sales tax and income tax are two different things.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#242

Post by MahaliAudran »

goldfeld wrote: post #214
ChuckMcM wrote: post #101

Sad story, I agree with folks who say you should seek out legal advice. HEADS UP FOR ANYONE ELSE CONSIDERING THIS: If you are going to receive funds with PayPal and they are going to exceed the 'occasional sale' guidelines (which some people interpret to mean the same guidelines at the rule for sending an IRS 1099 form which is First establish your business presence in the US, that means creating an LLC, getting an E…

Here's a related question. PayPal is officially in my country. Can I take money from anyone in the world and receive it in under my country's law?

Yes, if PayPal does business in those countries.

There are some countries were you can pay but not receive funds and some where you can sell but can't keep any money in your PayPal account (it's automatically transfered every day to you local bank account).

PayPal wants to do business everywhere it can (that's how they make money) and modifies how it does business to meet the laws it must.

So, it can't do business in countries where the US prohibits it (see the OFAC list) as they're a US company and limits account functions where other laws require it.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#243

Post by georgek1029 »

Have you tried?: How to Unlock a PayPal Account http://www.ehow.com/how_7657756_unlock-paypal-account.html via @eHow

Also, other comments have stated that if the lock msg. came via email it could be a phishing scam. Try to avoid supplying personal info if looks like a suspicious email.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Criticism

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#244

Post by winter_blue »

jonramz wrote: post #237
winter_blue wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an F-1 student too, and here's my suggestion: This coming Summer, apply for pre-completion OPT . You are allowed to start a company (register a corporation), and work for it under OPT status. I have inquired about this on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1523021 I also verified with the DSOs (Designated School Officials) at my university, who are authorized to give legal advice on this matter, an…

You cannot do both 12 months of pre-completion and 12 months of post-completion OPT, you only get 12 months of OPT per degree level

Yes, you're right. So if the OP works for 3 months this summer, he can still do 9 months of post-completion + 17 months if he has a STEM degree.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#245

Post by lawnchair_larry »

rschmitty wrote: post #219
chris_wot wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that the job of the IRS? What does PayPal have to do with that?

Paypal has to report these things over a certain amount

But they don't have to police it. And they shouldn't.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#246

Post by mykl »

gojomo wrote: post #46

Concur with javajosh's recommendation to find a California/USA-based lawyer for help. Advice from semi-anonymous strangers in internet forums is worth what you pay for it. Generally, in the search for a lawyer, you get to talk to many (without charge) for 15-45 minutes each. You may be surprised how widely their estimations of the issues vary -- the law is the law, right? -- but you'll learn something from each conve…

I second this. Look here: www.irs.gov/Individuals/General-ITIN-Information Also, you can use this in dealing with US banks. I have not done this with PayPal but have done it for US banking. It took a few weeks. to get the number.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#248

Post by Qantourisc »

linuxhansl wrote: post #109

It boggles my mind how PayPal can again and again get away with this. The ability of PayPal to be a bank and yet avoid being one legally is interesting. If you hold somebody else's money you are a bank, whether you call yourself that way or not.

Been thinking the same thing for a while.

We even adjusted the accounting software to tread PayPal as if it was a bank ... The amount of accounting time on PayPal went down. Because it's well ... a bank, without the legal obligations :( and that means we are screwed.

Re: I made $200K and PayPal locked my account

#250

Post by mamcx »

alpeb wrote: post #100
mamcx wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually looking for a way to solve this future problem (located in Colombia). I wish I could use stripe or baintree. Opening a account in USA from my local bank requiere US 30.000 in the first deposit (!) and creating a US company ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5148581 ) I worry for the legal/financial repercussions of that. The local payment processors suck worse than paypal. I use fastspring, they support…

As for opening an account, you could take a trip to Miami and open it by yourself. No need to be a resident. Then make withdrawals in Colombia from an ATM (up to 780k COP at once) at a not too bad exchange rate.

Yes, but then I need a TIN. And a US address to activate the stripe account. Creating a US LLC corporation is a big problem because the legal/tax implications... but probably my only rute right now...
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