PayPal was served with a Federal Court of Canada order on November 10, 2017 requiring them to release to CRA details about PayPal Business account holders who sent or received a payment between January 1, 2014, and November 10, 2017, PayPal has 45 days in which to comply with this order and have indicated that they intend to do so. They have not mentioned any intention to appeal or challenge the court order. All business transactions carried out in Canada have to be reported to CRA. If you have unreported business income and have not yet been directly contacted by CRA you may still be eligible to submit a voluntary disclosure program (VDP or tax amnesty) application. This will mean no tax prosecution or tax penalties and a possible reduction of taxes owing. However the voluntary disclosure program rules are expected to change on January 1, 2018 and this type of situation, a mass release of data to CRA by a third party, may no longer qualify for tax amnesty under the new rules.

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