A huge question worth asking, "Tax for on-line sales & information sharing with foreign governments"
Is the federal government intent
on knowing our every financial detail?
In early 2011 when QLD was hit by
floods, I was compelled to help out, a friend offered up his trucking services
if I could help, but that is irrelevant to this investigation, how the QLD
floods started to expose the government’s situation is interesting indeed.
My wife and I own a native
wildlife sanctuary, and we used our PayPal details to accept donations, well in
the hope of receiving donations, any way this is where the story starts, while
raising money for the Flood victims, we decided to use our PayPal account, and
raised just over $1000 using this method, I had used the account for a few
years for minor online purchases without concern.
When I tried to with draw the
donations, is when this story started, the account was frozen, and due to the
nature of the issue, I was very concerned about access to the money, seems all
of a sudden I needed to provide extra information to gain access to my money, PayPal
had my bank accounts x2, my address and all my details, but now they wanted a
copy of my driver’s licence and a copy of my passport?
I would have told them to get
stuffed immediately, but the money was not mine, so I reluctantly photographed
my licence and passport and send them my details, and was able to access the
donated money, well $1000 of it, any further access was then denied, as they
wanted more, this is where it gets interesting, the photo of my passport, did
not allow clear access to all the special numbers on it, and they also needed
my “Political Status”?
This of course was a step too far
for me, so I phoned Ebay in Australia direct and left a complaint, and was then
contacted my their management, they explained the issue was brought about by
the Australian federal government, and if I did not reply I would lose the
money and my account would remain frozen, so told them where they could stick
the money, as you all know I would.
So what next, I wrote a few
articles on the issue but to be honest no one seemed to care about what had happened,
and I had to head to QLD, as the promise of a truck was a let down, so the
story faded, I continued to use Ebay avoiding the use of PayPal, not so easy
but achievable, until April 2012, seems as of this week, to sell an item on
Ebay, one must conduct their financial transaction through one of 3 options,
PayPal, Paymate or be a registered business, all so the federal government can
track sale details.
Ebay had tried to force all
members to use “PayPal” but the ACCC in Australia denied them this right, so
they simply offer the required 3 options, you must be a licensed trader, or use
Paypal or Paymate, all one in the same, so where are you ACCC?
(Paymate's
principal place of business in the USA is at 2105 Woodside Road, Woodside CA,
yet is sold as an Australian version of Paypal)
I had already researched the
Paypal issue and found it was a serious one, so I then tried to investigate
Paymate (Flexi Online Pty Ltd ABN 42 154 594 199
AFSL 415833), well it seems they are a hard org to investigate, with no
information about the company available on line, and the address appears to be
the same as PayPal, either way, it appears these organisations are all about
information and providing financial records and other information to government
departments.
Some short
sighted people will say who cares at this point, but then looking further, it
appears most online site’s are heading in the same direction, with Gumtree
under the wing of the same organisations, upping the ante when it comes to
access to information, Try searching who owns Gumtree and be ready to see
federal files open that have shall we say, deleted online information?
“In response to a complaint we
received under the
US Digital Millennium Copyright
Act, we have
removed result(s)
from this page. If you wish, you may
read the DMCA complaint
that caused the removal(s) at
ChillingEffects.org.” is one of the many interesting Google result while
seeking information
Is this all
about ground work to tax online sales, or peek into our hip pockets to see what
more than can take out?
Canada opened the gate when their courts demanded
internal revenue were allowed access to Ebays sellers and buyers information.
Gumtree are now owned by get this
Ebay, well one of its arms called Kijiji, the sale of Gumtree to Ebay details
are not available even by company searches, it was all done in cash under the
counter so to speak, so one organisation is buying up all major online sale
sites, and the info they eventually demand to use these services goes further
than those requested by Australian banks, in fact beyond any government
departments here in Australia.
These unknown corporations are
all linked and now own on line advertising in every country around the globe,
and reports of the issues I have endured are popping up in every country, so
what is going on, and what is the big picture?
Ebay, Gumtree, Kijiji, Marktplaats.nl, Kwickr, and many others, in every country, including
Australia
Canada,
France,
Italy,
China,
India,
Taiwan,
Belgium,
Switzerland,
Russia,
Austria,
Britain,
Ireland,
Poland,
Hong Kong,
South Africa,
Australia and
New Zealand and
Japan.
Kijiji also controls selected cities in the United States, even Craigslists is
now owned by Ebay?
Ebay also own PayPal and it would appear Paymate in
Australia, depending on whether one searches the company or the share holders, it appears in some countries, it is already
compulsory to use Paypal like England and the US, and the same is earmarked for
their Australian enterprises (Ebay Australia and Gumtree).
Under PayPal policy, they are able to hold, freeze accounts,
deduct money and commissions from member’s credit cards or personal bank accounts
and a variety of financial actions that do not meet with the safe guards
expected under Australian law.
(It is also interesting that Ebay, Gumtree and Paypal
invoices do not include any payment of tax in Australia, Ebay Australia
receipts do not include GST, nor do those of PayPal, which amounts to tax
evasion, so is the deal government endorsed, avoid tax for the provision of
personal information?)
“So the day approaches where to advertise and sell on line,
you will need to use one company, they will ensure you have to use one of their
payment companies, not only is this double dipping when it comes to commissions
paid out by users, it will entail providing every bit if info you have, Bank
accounts, drivers license, passport full details, and even your political
status, which will be shared with the Australian and US governments”.
(Paymate like PayPal
requires your name, telephone
number, valid and active email address, physical mailing address (and billing
address if different), P.O Box is not acceptable, Social Security Number, Tax
Id, EIN number as applicable, bank account, credit card details, sign a form to
allow them to debit your accounts and any further details as may be required)
You will pay to sell or buy, pay for the financial
transaction, then pay tax on the sale, while governments will share in all the
information about you, what you sell, buy or even browse, is this what we need
or deserve?
With online sales overtaking local retail sales, can we
afford a monopoly situation, let alone one that ensures others have access to
all our personal details, should we pay tax on the sale of our used items,
those which tax had already been paid, should Ebay and PayPal et all, pay tax
on their profits and going even further, should these companies share our every
detail, even with foreign governments?
Lots of questions, but very little answers, so maybe it is
time we started demanding answers, until then do not give out information you
would prefer is kept secret, sell your used items locally, and lets ensure we
the people are including in the debate regarding the way forward on these
important matters.
Mark Aldridge
Independent and Community advocate
08 82847482 / 0403379500