Why is an EIN no longer acceptable?

[AlastairMcIntyr]

I have never been a US citizen but own an American LLC and thus have an EIN number which has been acceptable for some 14 years.  I would like to ask why this is no longer acceptable by PayPal USA.  

[Snow-Cat]

See this post, looks like a glich - but, it appears that Customer Support can help.

[DPCreations]

Where are you located?

[AlastairMcIntyr]

I'm in Canada.  I have dual citizenship with Canada and the UK. 

[DPCreations]

You'll need a U. S. account for a U. S. company.

[Whac-A-Mole]

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wrote:

You'll need a U. S. account for a U. S. company.

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if you click on his profile,it is USA,not Canada or UK/

So if you open US PAYPAL account,Paypal expects you to be  a US citizen or US resident and should  have US address,and SS number.

There are some posts last year with foreigners who set up company in USA,not sure if the EIN number is good enough?   

[AlastairMcIntyr]

What I got from PayPal was...

"With our PayPal Debit Cards currently, we do require some information to be able to identify you as a person. With our newer processes with the debit card, we would require either an SSN or an ITIN. If we cannot verify either one of those, then we cannot activate the new card for you.

I'm sorry about the conflicting information you have received. With an EIN, we can only validate a business. With our Debit cards, we would have to verify you as a person since you are forever and business unfortunately can come and go. If you can provide a ITIN, we would be more than happy to activate your new debit card for you."

So I do understand the issue. 

The problem is that I have been with them for 14 years and they have a copy of my 2016 accounts which were filed with the IRS.  The reason I took our a business debit card was simply as a convienant way to pay my US business bills which made it easy to do my annual accounts.

I do have a Canadian PayPal account but it's a personal one.  

I just feel if the US is open to business on a global scale then a lot of foreign companies wanting to do business in the USA and thus bring new jobs and investment in the US won't have either of those requirements.  However they will be required to have an EIN number to be able to file their annual tax returns and pay taxes.  This is why I don't think this new policy is workable.

BUT in any event having worked with them for 14 years I find the fact that they can't identify me as a person to be ridiculous. Also when they communicate with me the both refer to me as Dear Alastair McIntyre and Dear Electric Scotland USA LLC.  AND I have a Busness Account with them not a personal account.  

[AlastairMcIntyr]

I have an American bank account with a debit card and they don't have any problems. That's part of why I am questioning this new policy.  PayPal simply say they are not a bank.

[Whac-A-Mole]

IT looks like they want either the SS number which you do not have ,OR the ITIN number.

Like they said SSN identifies a person behind the business name,business name come and go,but the person will be around until death.

US paypal account can be linked t o a US bank account only,no foreign bank.

Rules are  tighter now,recently FBI found an  USA Ebay seller accepting payments for selling electronic goods,the payment is really meant to assist US ISIS operations and he never ship anything,he accepts paypal payments and sell on Ebay USA .

IRS can also request a person account activities from Paypal and Ebay if he is ever audited,

If you have both UK and Canadian papers,why not use a Canadian account to conduct busienss online

[AlastairMcIntyr]

My PayPal account is linked with a US Bank account which I opened personally while in the US.  It's really easier to allow my US customers to pay in US dollars and also to pay US bills without having to concern myself with the exchange rates.

However I'm now retired and the business is winding down so I'm not really that bothered as I'll likely be closing down the business in a year or two anyway.  In the meantime I'll just transfer funds from my PayPal account to my US bank account and pay the bills that way.

I don't actually sell products just some advertising on my web site. SO as the balance of my advertising customers prefer to pay monthly it just makes it easier for them to pay by monthly subscription and of course I used that money to pay the cost of running my servers.