We've had a coinbase account for a number of years and for the entire time we used our business checking account and business debit card for all transactions. We submitted to them our partnership agreement and forms from the IRS with the EIN and we submitted our EIN to them when the account was set up, and at the time my partner's name was listed as the contact person.
We contacted them on multiple occasions, wanting the name of our business to be reflected on our account. Initially, they told us they weren't set up for that yet so we waited. Then there were significant reductions in how much we could buy or sell at one time so they acted like they never got the documentation. Then for a while they disabled use of our business checking account for transactions because they claimed it was a business checking account on a personal coinbase account. Around this time they also lost the photo IDs submitted.
In the latest bout, which has gone on for a few months now, they changed the date of their responses to 2 weeks prior to the date that we said we still needed support (and no email actually went to an inbox - this is just in their "my case" section) so I have no idea when they actually did respond. In it, they claimed:
Richard
Dec 18, 2017 04:34PM
Hi Melissa,
I apologize for the delayed response. In order for you to operate a business account and wire funds from a business bank account of the same name we will need you to fill out an Exchange Business Application. You can include the necessary documentation as well as work through the application at the following link:
https://www.gdax.com/signup/identity_view. Please keep in mind that this application is necessary to operate your account as a business account.
Warm Regards,
Raymond
Client Services
(this was AFTER we submitted, yet again, the IRS documents with the name of our business, the registered agent, and employer identification number on November 29th, and after we tried to get them to respond January 3rd)
However, we aren't looking for any new services. We don't wire money anywhere - we use ACH transfer for sales and either that or debit for purchases. We also are not an exchange business as we don't accept cryptocurrency payments for anything. Our business is one part agricultural and one part cryptocurrency, and earn money on both fronts and have been working on integrating the two models together. Since we only sell our produce to grocery stores with a state whole-seller license we have no need to accept cryptocurrency payments anyway. Additionally, the link they sent us to is to upload a personal ID - yet again - and this time using a webcam as well.
All we want them to do is recognize that the transactions we carry out are all carried out in the name of a registered business. We file taxes as a business, maintain a business ledger, and it would really screw things up if they continued to report business transactions as personal transactions. It could cause problems if we are audited - either as a business or as a personal entity in different ways - and if we are ever sued it would look like we were mixing personal and business assets which would increase our own personal liability. I thought that registered financial institutions had rules to follow. They can't tell the IRS that a business is personal, or so I thought, but they are acting like they don't have to treat the account for what it is.
Does anyone know of any way that we can proceed on this? Can we report anything to the IRS so that they know that Coinbase is knowingly submitting business transactions as personal transactions? Even if another exchange becomes registered in Illinois (last time we check, Coinbase was it) we still need to make sure their records about our business activity is accurately reported.
