Senate Housing Bill Requires eBay, Amazon, Google, and All Credit Card Companies to Report Transacti

Senate Housing Bill Requires eBay, Amazon, Google, and All Credit Card Companies to Report Transactions to the Government

www.freedomworks.org

Washington, DC - Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America’s small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented: "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week. Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses. The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking."

(visit the link for the full news article)

Think the stuff you buy on Ebay is a private citizen-to-citizen transaction? Not quite! The IRS wants financial records, and they want their money, too:

This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.

Anyone think this transaction information will stay 'safely' within the IRS? Perhaps DHS might be interested in exactly why you bought that survival gear...


www.freedomworks.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by Ian McLean


Think the stuff you buy on Ebay is a private citizen-to-citizen transaction? Not quite! The IRS wants financial records, and they want their money, too:

This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.

Anyone think this transaction information will stay 'safely' within the IRS? Perhaps DHS might be interested in exactly why you bought that survival gear...


www.freedomworks.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

Ebay sellers already have to report their income to the IRS. This is creating a massive database.

Ebay got hacked last year and the hacker posted details on the message boards such as name, address, phone number, credit card info, the unique database alphanumeric sequences each user is given when he/she registers which is not known to the individual, etc.

This has lots of potential problems.

I'd like to know just what this has to do with a housing bill. God, I am sick to death of the way they sneak completely unrelated items into bills just to get them through.

Originally posted by SystemiK
I'd like to know just what this has to do with a housing bill.

It's cast as a 'revenue provision', to balance the cost of home mortgage bailouts.

Wonder what implications this will have for the Non US versions of ebay? Probably have the UK site's customers have to pay taxes to the UK government just to use ebay soon...

ALREADY EXISTS HERE

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I would like to take this opportunity to let all the people in the US that are getting tired of this kid stuff know, that the border to the north is still open for business. We have lots of jobs, and they pay pretty good too. We have decently priced homes. We can still download stuff without having to go to jail. We have good beer, and even better women. We are for the most part polite. You get free healthcare (and don't believe everything you hear, it is pretty damn good). Cheaper insurance for your car. Our days are longer. A couple of downsides though, it can get cold, but we use that as another reason for skin to skin contact, so it balances out. So come on up, live like a king (or queen), enjoy your stay.

For anyone interested the bill to which they are referring is:

House Amendments to the Senate Amendment to
H.R. 3221 – Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008

No debate? How many 'voting' representatives even 'read' that part - added after the bill was introduced?

They are slime. They are sneaky. They have lost most of their honor because they have become institutionalized into believing they owe no explanations to the citizens anymore.

www.freedomworks.org...

Bill Summary:
Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting. The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions. A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.

I am so disgusted because I really thought Dodd was one of the good guys. This legislation is no different than the neo-con FISA/Domestic Spying issue, a degradation of our civil liberties. Furthermore it is sure to help with the agenda of pushing controllable and trackable digi-dollars.


[edit on 20/6/2008 by kosmicjack]

reply to post by kosmicjack


I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think of the politicians the same was as I think of professional wrestlers. Who the 'good guys' and 'bad guys' are is scripted according to demographics and whim. They take turns as best they can. But in the end they all get told what to say, do, and become by the same director. One party - the only one.

Originally posted by Ian McLean

Think the stuff you buy on Ebay is a private citizen-to-citizen transaction? Not quite! The IRS wants financial records, and they want their money, too:

Anyone think this transaction information will stay 'safely' within the IRS? Perhaps DHS might be interested in exactly why you bought that survival gear...

I don't necessarily agree with this legislation, but the summary states that only the gross amount of reportable transactions will be reported to the IRS.

Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee

This means that the third party that settles credit card transactions for a business must report to the IRS the total dollar amount for the year paid to that business for tax purposes. No detailed transaction information is involved.

The implication here is that come April 15th, if there is a large discrepency between reported income by a business to the IRS, and the amount reported to the IRS by the settlement institutions to that business, there 'may' be reason to believe that the business did not report truthfully.

Good or bad, this appears to be another mechanism to audit tax returns rather than track individual behavior, etc.

Why this is burried in a seemingly unrelated bill is highly suspect.

EDIT: Spelling

[edit on 20-6-2008 by Zarniwoop]

Project Genisys takes form.

data aggregation across unstructured "civilian" databases

infowar.net...
en.wikipedia.org...

Sri Oracle

Are money orders extinct? No ? Then problem solved.. Yeah you still pay a little . (Get postal MO's) But your safe . And im sure its allot less..

EDIT to delete all of this.

If passed, I leave the country, like we ALL should have done when the "Patriot Act" was passed.

[edit on 20-6-2008 by LostNemesis]

[edit on 20-6-2008 by LostNemesis]

They did the same thing in the Port Security Bill. After the bill was voted on by the Senate, Senator Bill Frist added the provision that bans banks from accepting transactions for internet gambling.

It took exactly two people to legislate morality. Bill Frist, and George Bush.

As I understand it this was perfectly legal, and they do it quite often.

They don't do our business anymore, they do theirs.

Having a secret session on March 13th was outrageous in my opinion. We send them to Washington to do our business, and they shouldn't be allowed to do it in secret.

Its over folks, yes sirrreeeeee its over, We can now kiss our great Country goodby.

They the Great all Powerfull American Government, wants YOU to sumit everthing to them!

Next They will pass laws how many children you can have lol.

Ya, we all sit at home thinking we cant do anything.

Enjoy talking on this wonderfull site ATS wich I love, because soon it will not be allow to exist

The Government is really getting MAD at us ploggers, because we are exsposeing thier LIES

They are working on a bill to control ALL the information on the internet.

Most of Congress think the Constitution is nothing more than a pile of garbage. that need to be trashed.

If (WE THE PEOPLE) do nothing, then We deserve nothing!
I am getting MADER every day, I hear how our Government is misleading us and is misinforming us.

We need to march to Washington and throw these people OUT!
WE NEED TO REINSTATE a new Government for the people, by the people.

I f you can get a million people to show up in Washington to protest peacefully. What are they going to do? shoot a Million people while it is on every TV news outlet around the world, I think not.



[edit on 6/20/2008 by cashlink]

If a business charges you taxes on a transaction (credit, or cash), that business should have to account for that tax you paid, instead of pocketing the money for themselves.

Ever go to a deli for lunch that keeps the cash drawer open for multiple transactions? They are taking the tax amount you pay on your bill, and pocketing that money for themselves. Instead of paving roads, your tax dollars are going towards a swimming pool for the business owner.

Small businesses love cash transations

This legislation targets businesses for credit transactions, not consumers.

Do I agree with the overall U.S. tax system? ... absolutely not. But, this legislation appears to have nothing to do with consumer privacy or any ominous government databases.

I do still think it's sneaky how it was slipped-in, though.

I don't think we should leave our homes and our country. I believe we should stand and fight and die for our Freedom!

Whew! I finally managed to track this down in the Congressional Record:

Congressional Record Page S5902
Congressional Record Page S5903

Note that the 'De Minimis' exception (less than $10K and less than 200 transactions) only applies to '3rd Party Settlement Organizations', not merchant acquiring banks, or transactions resolved for any entity who 'provides for the issuance of payment cards'.

See the linked PDFs above for the complete text, or search for the page numbers on thomas.loc.gov. BTW, anyone know how to make a permalink into a Thomas search result?