$600 SSN

[rsgametech]

I have grossed $458 total up to now, since January. No refunds were counted. $214 of that $458 is being put on hold until I give my SSN.

Where in TOS does it say you can hold my funds and not release them until I hand over my SSN. I don't recall signing anything to agree to that.

Can you show me the law or directive from the government allowing you to  freeze peoples funds?

Wouldn't it make sense to send this out after the tax year is concluded or allow people to get their funds and then send out the warning about putting future transactions on hold.

Been with you 13 years, and it's the worst behavior I have seen of any e-commerce store.

[mtgraves7984]

Payments on hold | eBay

^^^ Here's the TOS info... can't point to a government directive, though.

[redmodelt]

Did you sign up for Managed pay or did you not? Bank accounts require your SSI number, this would be no different. 

or you can wait till the funds go your state and get them then. 

[heckofagame]

They already have your SSN. They are just verifying it for tax purposes as per government rules. They don't want you to launder any money or evade taxes. The government is funny like that. 

[rsgametech]

I'll probably apply for an EIN number. If I am going in, it's all the way in as a proper seller/shop.

Wish eBay had a setup with the government and it used last 4-digits along with other identifiers to authenticate. I think people would feel better about it. Anything but handing over something that could lead to identity theft.

[monica-sells]

Welcome to 2022....

What Are KYC Documents?

Account owners generally must provide a government-issued ID as proof of identity. Some institutions require two forms of ID, such as a driver's license, birth certificate, social security card, or passport. In addition to confirming identity, the address must be confirmed. This can be done with proof of ID or with an accompanying document confirming the address of the client.

"... and it's the worst behavior I have seen of any e-commerce store..."

That being said, which platform did not require a Tax ID # ?

[lacemaker3]

---

@rsgametech wrote:

I'll probably apply for an EIN number. If I am going in, it's all the way in as a proper seller/shop.

Wish eBay had a setup with the government and it used last 4-digits along with other identifiers to authenticate. I think people would feel better about it. Anything but handing over something that could lead to identity theft.

---

@rsgametech, eBay initially allowed sellers to supply just the last 4 digits of the SSN, but they have to have the full SSN in order to issue a 1099K, otherwise they would have to withhold income taxes on all payouts -- since eBay did not withhold income taxes on your payouts so far, they have to get your SSN before you go over the $600 limit. Otherwise, eBay would not be able to comply with the law.

I can see records of $425 in sales from your listings that ended in the last 90 days. I can't see what sales you might have had in the previous 7 months, but I can also see over $300 of listings that were ended early in the last few weeks. There may have been some listings that I didn't find, and some prices were lowered before they were ended. Those listings would have put you over the limit if they had sold, and they were probably active when eBay requested your SSN.

	Title	Item #	Price	Ended
Sold	T50RP T20RP T40RP CABLE	223652466710	$25.00	10/21/2022
Sold	EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 TI SC2 Gaming 11GB GDDR5X Graphics Card (11GP46593KR)	225206441066	$250.00	10/15/2022
Sold	Google Pixel 2 XL - 128GB - New battery and charging port	224766773724	$150.00	9/11/2022
		Subtotal:	$425.00
Unsold	BLON BL-03 + RARE YINYOO 16 CORE SILVER CABLE - Price reduced, no case	224580272369	$   55.00	10/14/2022
Unsold	6x Lian li 120mm Rgb Case Fan + cable kit	225140748209	$   85.00	10/14/2022
Unsold	T50RP T20RP T40RP CABLE	223652466710	$25.00	10/21/2022
Unsold	MASSDROP X MEE AUDIO PLANAMIC IN-EAR MONITORS PLANAR-DYNAMIC	224580546891	$ 124.99	10/21/2022
Unsold	Used Good Drive Shaft Flex Joint-Genuine 26117503159 Front 00-06 BMW X5	224532380379	$   34.99	10/21/2022
		Subtotal:	$ 324.98
		Total:	$749.98

Many sellers were upset that, after giving the last 4 digits, they were later required to provide the whole SSN. It would probably have been better to make it clear in the first place, because some people didn't see what was coming. Or didn't want to.

If you register for a business account, then you need to provide full details for all owners of the business, including names and SSN, so I don't think that registering as a business and getting an EIN will prevent the need to provide your SSN as well. You don't have to have an EIN to be able to report sales as a Sole Proprietor, and deduct all legitimate business expenses.

[rsgametech]

Some items were pulled, if you don't mind me asking where did you access this information?

Those unsold items are not public and you appear to have it in a report style format, copy pasted from a spreadsheet. Do you work for eBay?

Regarding total sales, its about $650. My gross to date is about $458 after refunds. I never grossed over $600 at any one time.

Also of the tax year ends in 2022 and my total gross for 2022 is $458 then I think legally eBay would be effectively stealing money at that stage.

[mam98031]

Did you read the Terms for Managed Payments when you signed up for it?  If you didn't, you should have.

Ebay is now your money processor.  As such they are REQUIRED by LAW to have certain information on file.  You SSN is one of those things.  We are too close to the end of the year for Ebay to play games with sellers and wait until they hit $599.99 to ask for the SSN.  

And keep in mind that the minimum threshold to report your money to IRS on the 1099K form is the total amount of money received into your MP account BEFORE any deductions for cancellations, returns, shipping, sales tax etc.

Your resolution is simple, give Ebay a clear pic of your SSN.  Your money will be held until you do so.  They will not make a special rule just for your needs or desire.

They did warn you, you just forgot to read the terms.  Keep in mind that Ebay is not going to break federal laws just because you don't want to comply.

https://pages.ebay.com/payment/2.0/terms.html

[historypapers]

If your sales including the refunds went over 600, you are going to get a 1099. Ebay is requiring you to cooperate with this, just like the rest of us had to.

[soh.maryl]

People would feel better about it? Every single seller here has provided his/her SSN, as required by Federal law, the IRS and banking regulations.  

[lacemaker3]

@rsgametech,

Your sold items are public, and your active items were public, until you ended them, and they were crawled by google and were available in google cached pages. I don't work for eBay, I'm just good at investigating. I saved the information in a spreadsheet as i found it so that I could calculate the totals. Copying and pasting from a spreadsheet is hands-down the easiest way to make a table in this forum.

In this case, I wanted to find out if you were underestimating your total payments received (and they were really over $600) or if the request for SSN was being made because you still had active listings which would have put you over the threshold if they were sold. At least one of your listings had multiple sales, which complicated the issue. If your total payments received were about $650, not accounting for refunds, then eBay needs to issue a 1099-K and that is why they need your SSN.

The IRS sets the rules for when payment processors have to issue a 1099-K, and eBay is legally required to follow the rules. The rules say that when the total amount processed into your account is more than $600, then eBay has to issue a 1099-K. The rules do not allow any adjustments for refunds or fees charged, it is the total amount that was processed on your behalf, which includes purchase price plus shipping (if any). The sales tax the buyer paid is not included because it was not processed into your account; it's a pass-through and is sent to the buyer's state, not to your managed payments account.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099k.pdf

If eBay doesn't have your SSN, then they are legally required to withhold 24% income tax from your payouts, and they didn't do that, so they have to get your SSN before you reach the threshold in order to stay in compliance with the law. I have never heard of eBay withholding income tax. Most low-volume sellers don't end up owing very much income tax on their eBay income anyway, many won't owe anything, so withholding income tax would not be very popular, and it would be a bureaucratic nightmare.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099gi.pdf

[evry1nositswindy]

@rsgametech I was going to say exactly what @lacemaker3 said.  Anyone can see your sold items as well as you completed sale (not sold but ended) and your active listings.  We have all provided our social security numbers so that we can get paid.  This is federal law...everyone has to comply.  You are not being singled out.

If you don't comply, all of your funds will be held and sent to your state where you would have to provide your social security number to claim them.

[baydistributionllc]

Can a bank require a beneficiary to provide a Social Security number?

Yes. Banks may require the beneficiary  to provide a Social Security number (SSN) for monetary transactions.

This requirement is intended to verify that funds are distributed to the correct designated individual(s) listed in a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract.

[toysaver]

"I don't recall signing anything to agree to that."

This is the internet age... You clicked on a link saying you read and agreed to the terms.  Don't feel bad, most people don't bother to do the reading part, just the clicking.