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How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Ok so I think we need a updated thread pertaining to this topic.

The old stealth strategy was one opens a regular personal paypal account, wait until you get the request for tax id, then upgrade to business while supplying the EIN # as either a LLC or S Corp.

I don't know when this came into full effect but when trying to upgrade to a business paypal no longer allows one to do so because they "limit the account from being able to close"

Its a catch 22 because if you add the EIN the limit goes away but you can't add the EIN while upgrading to business because your limited.

I've PM'd a couple members and have heard some contradictory answers so here's what I know....

The only way I know but I haven't tested myself is when adding the EIN you can also add the 4 last EIN for the S.S. I'm strictly talking when paypal asking for your tax id not that your account is FULLY limited for instance I'm only at about 160ish sales and 7K gross but they are requesting my tax id off the 7K :doh:

Not even half way there and have been using this since the start of the year.

Whatever but I think we either need to figure out some strategy or come to a consensus on how one becomes an actual business account with EIN. As far as I'm concerned once this is set up and in place, its just as good as a REAL account meaning although they still can ask for S.S anytime the chances go down and your account no becomes ALOT stronger with the EIN attached.

Shootout to Jeff, I'm waiting ..... :help:

haha

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

I've ran into this problem as well on a few accounts..

You are going to have to call them to have the EIN manually added, after that you can fill out the business info from your end on the computer.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Soo....are you a business account w/ EIN and all is working smoothly?

I did this too...

I called and took no for a answer (speaking to the supervisor) and got him to allow me to upload the EIN doc which they will manually add and hopefully all goes well after that.

I kept telling the guy "stop questioning my intelligence" because their hypocrisy now is unbelievable. When this happening it CLEARLY states the soft limitation is STRICTLY due to a need for a TAX ID. But you call and they say nope we need a S.S. Then its a back and forth convo until you get them to cave...

:smash:

I'm about to spend money on a S-Corp in the next week, they BETTER follow threw. I doubt this would work on any account that is LESS then perfect and is squeaky clean in regards to your eBay account.

I'll update this once I get my S CORP.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Has anyone else tried this method ?

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

any updated info on this....i'm having same issues....PM is need to but I'm really hoping someone has ideas or solution...

Thanks in advance....

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Bump as well ^^

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Went through the upload doc process and got hit with:

Thank you for contacting us about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax law that affects online sellers.
In order to upgrade your account to a business, you will first need to add your SSN. This will then auto-lift the limitation; then you will be able to upgrade to a business account and add your EIN for tax reporting purposes.
While we do not report this information unless required to by law, we may still require this information be provided to continue uninterrupted access to your account.
We’re always here to help. Please visit www.paypal.com/irs today for more information.

If you have any questions, you may contact us by clicking “Contact Us” at the bottom of any PayPal page.


Someone shed some light here :mod:

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

I am am not suggesting this as a solution because it is far to soon to know for sure if it is a viable long term option but some people have had success adding the EIN number for both. Only time will tell if this is a good option.

This is copied and pasted from that link. It says by providing a tax ID number, which is SSN, EIN, or ITIN. They should be appeased with just an EIN. They even say providing 1. Hopefully, this is an issue they will fix.

Again, copied and pasted from that link

Business Entities with an EIN
If you operate through a business legal entity such as a corporation or partnership you will need to provide your company EIN and company name.

Sole Proprietors with an EIN
If you operate as a sole proprietor using an EIN you will need to provide your company EIN and your own name. Do not provide a business name or a DBA name ("Doing Business As") with your EIN.

Individual Sellers and Sole Proprietors without an EIN
If you are an individual seller or sole proprietor and operate under your SSN or ITIN you will need to provide your SSN or ITIN and your name. Do not provide a business name or DBA name with your SSN or ITIN.

Another from that link:


Will I need to upgrade to a business account?
If you have a Personal or Premier account and you provide an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to PayPal, you will be asked to upgrade to a Business account. If you have a Personal or Premier account and you provide a Social Security Number (SSN) to PayPal, you will not be asked to upgrade to a Business account.

Seems like an argument could be made by calling paypal about inconsistencies in their FAQ. I would hope they would accommodate

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

JUST AN fyi... the SSN page now is NOT going away when you upgrade to a business account. They added it for me manually, but then i logged in and made it a business... Now i am stuck on the SSN page on ALL browsers

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

So sad. End of story.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Does this mean we cannot upgrade PP to a business account any more?

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Why don't people just add an EIN than upgrade? I never wait til they limit my account and usually add one after $2000 or so has been ran into the account.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

paypal has still been asking for the last 4 of SS.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

So you can't upgrade to business even off the bat?

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

people have been adding last 4 of EIN with success…

ah, i see yankee beat me to it

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Can anyone confirm that you can use the last 4 of EIN? I decided to legit my stealth account as much as possible yesterday and added a bank account, as well as trying to upgrade to business but got slapped with the SSN prompt when switching.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

there have been other confirmations elsewhere on the forum

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

So far the last 4 of the EIN seem to be fine. Only time will tell if it is a long term or permanent solution.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

This is very true.

I called in about one of my accounts stating the same thing AND got the person to manually add the information. You have to be firm because it is a contradiction in terms. Until the specifically state they are requesting a S.S they CANNOT demand S.S when you call in.

Now it would be different if they actually requested the S.S as a means to pass the 200/20K but that's not the case. You call in and they say they "really are requesting your social etc". It's true that at some point they might but when they say this they figure we are NOT stealth. It's easy after the EIN passes to stay under the radar.

It's true once you add it it makes your account "real" and subject to far less scrutiny BUT you can still trigger it with odd behavior. It's just like getting a huge limit increase... List to fast and you can flirt with limitation but move slow and steadily and your good to go :)

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

This situation is still fairly new and we do not yet have enough information to be 100% certain of anything. But it appears that calling in and having them add it manually is the best solution. If the SSN request persists, I would just add the last 4 digits of the EIN - if you are ever questioned on it, you could just say that since it is a business account, you thought that was what they were looking for.

Re: How to upgrade to a BUSINESS PAYPAL w/ EIN number
 

Actually if it's the past four only, how can they truly verify the account based off that? They can't.

If you open the LLC or S CORP properly our name is NOT seen by anyone in the PayPal department, ever. So they technically can't do a cross check with the last four and see if it matches our business. Now if it's to match our name on the PayPal account then ya we're screwed but I would think they would need the full social, but I could be wrong..