PayPal asking for my SSN even though I'm not in the US?

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#1

Seemingly because I crossed a threshold in sales quantity and revenue, I got an email from PayPal asking for one of these:

  • Your Social Security number
  • Your Individual Tax Identification Number
  • Your Employer Identification Number

I’m not from the US. I don’t live in the US. I don’t run my business in the US (although I have some sales to the US).

I logged into PayPal, and receive another request to do this. There’s a link with more info, but the link is broken…

I searched the web for more info, and could only find poisonous discussions on poisonous forums.

Has anyone here who runs a non-US company and uses PayPal as a payment alternative faced this? If so, was it safe to ignore this strange request?

#2

And to answer my own query…

When I accepted PayPal’s request to “Submit” this information, I was given a choice: “I’m not in the US, not a US citizen, not required to declare taxes to the IRS”. After accepting a stern warning against fraud, PayPal accepts this choice.

3 Likes
#3

Yea, that happens and - it sucks.

It is really anoying but they are strict for US, europe, well not that much.

I have also noticed that same is for Braintree, many many restrictions on how we can impplement or have an account with them.

I now also check 2checkout, who do seem to be resonable.