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Announcements on 2008 CRA Information Request
Recent PowerSeller Announcement: Canada Revenue Agency Previous PowerSeller Announcements: Canada Revenue Agency Recent PowerSeller Announcement: Canada Revenue Agency Important information for 2004 - 2005 Canadian PowerSellers On November 6, 2006, the Federal Court of Canada authorized the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to impose a requirement that eBay Canada produce the account information and sales data of Canadian PowerSellers for the years 2004 and 2005. eBay Canada has been vigorously contesting this requirement for the past two years and continues to do so. As yet, no information has been released to the Canada Revenue Agency as a result of the 2006 requirement. The matter is under appeal, and a Federal Court of Appeal hearing is scheduled for October 8, 2008. Current eBay members who are affected by this request will have received an email from eBay with more details. Please check your My Messages folder to determine whether you are a member of that group. The court rulings, additional information and the answers to some commonly-asked questions are posted at www.ebay.ca/powersellerinfo. If you have additional questions about this situation, you may email CRA_info@ebay.ca. Protecting our users' privacy is of the utmost importance to eBay, and we continue to vigorously defend your rights. As more information becomes available, we will keep you updated. Regards, Scott Shipman Senior Counsel Global Privacy Practices Previous PowerSeller Announcements: Canada Revenue Agency Update on the Federal Court Decision involving Canada Revenue Agency and eBay Canada, October 2, 2007 You may have recently read or heard about a recent Federal Court of Canada decision that may require eBay to release certain customer information regarding Canadian PowerSellers to the Canada Revenue Agency. Please rest assured that eBay takes user privacy very seriously. We are continuing to seek out available and appropriate legal courses of action in this matter and will not release any information until we have further clarity. Please also be aware that the court decision contemplates eBay releasing customer information of certain sellers that held PowerSeller status during the years of 2004 and 2005. Consequently, a change in PowerSeller status at this time will not alter our information disclosure requirements. As members of the eBay online marketplace, we want to assure you that we are working hard to find a just and reasonable resolution to this matter. In the meantime, please remember that sellers are responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with all local laws and regulations relating to their activities online. We will keep you updated on the progress of this matter as we learn more. Regards, Scott Shipman Senior Counsel, Global Privacy Practices Update on second Federal Court ruling involving Canada Revenue Agency and eBay Canada, February 15, 2008 Update on second Federal Court ruling involving Canada Revenue Agency and eBay Canada This past October, I posted a message here about a recent Federal Court of Canada decision that may require eBay to release certain customer information regarding Canadian PowerSellers during the years 2004 and 2005 to the Canada Revenue Agency. I also pledged to keep the community updated on new developments. At eBay, we take the privacy of our users' information very seriously. Despite eBay's further submissions arguing against the release of information, the court has recently reached a decision which supports the Canada Revenue Agency's claim to provide this information. This matter is now under further review as we continue to seek out available and appropriate legal courses of action. Our wish is to find just resolution to this matter, and we will not release any information until all options are explored or exhausted. As always, we would like to once again remind sellers that they are responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with all local laws and regulations relating to their activities online. As well, a change in PowerSeller status at this time will not alter our information disclosure requirements. As more information becomes available, we will keep you updated. Regards, Scott Shipman Senior Counsel Global Privacy Practices Updated: eBay to file appeal in Canada Revenue Agency case, May 1, 2008 In February 2008, I posted an update on the Federal Court of Canada's 2007 decision that may require eBay to release certain customer information regarding Canadian PowerSellers during the years 2004 and 2005 to the Canada Revenue Agency. I would like to update you again on developments. At eBay, we work hard to protect the privacy of our users, and we will continue to fight to protect your privacy. As I posted in February, we are appealing the court decision requiring eBay to disclose customer information. That appeal is currently underway, and will continue. We requested a "stay" of the court's decision that would prevent eBay from having to release the requested user information to the Canada Revenue Agency while we await the court's decision on our appeal. Unfortunately, we recently learned that our request for a stay has been denied. Consequently, despite our appeal being still underway, eBay has been ordered by the Federal Court of Canada to provide information on PowerSellers from 2004 and 2005. This is not the outcome that we wanted and we are disappointed with the ruling. We are currently exploring our legal options. As yet, no information has been released to the Canada Revenue Agency. We will advise affected members by email if we are forced to release their information. Protecting our users' privacy is of the utmost importance, and we continue to vigorously defend your rights by appealing the original ruling. We strenuously object to being forced to release our members' information before that appeal has been decided. We once again remind sellers that they are responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with all local laws and regulations relating to their activities online. As well, a change in PowerSeller status at this time will not alter our information disclosure requirements. As more information becomes available, we will keep you updated. Regards, Scott Shipman Senior Counsel Global Privacy Practices Canada Revenue Agency agrees to wait for PowerSeller appeal to be heard, May 21, 2008 Last week, I posted an update on the status of the Canada Revenue Agency's request for customer information regarding Canadian PowerSellers during the years 2004 and 2005. As you know, eBay Canada is currently appealing the ruling that would force us to release that information. Despite that appeal being still underway, eBay was ordered by the Federal Court of Canada to release the information immediately. We strenuously objected to this order, and announced that we would launch a second appeal, this time to the Supreme Court of Canada, to avoid being forced to release our members' information before the first appeal has been decided. I am pleased to report that we have since reached an understanding with the Canada Revenue Agency such that we no longer need to turn over the PowerSeller records for the years 2004 and 2005 until the original appeal has been heard. As a result, our planned appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada is no longer necessary. To protect our members' privacy, eBay is continuing to contest the requirements for 2004 and 2005. Of course, it goes without saying that all Canadians should abide by Canada's tax laws and all other relevant regulations. Regards, Scott Shipman Senior Counsel Global Privacy Practices |
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