Paypal-related questions

[authorvicomara]

Hey,
Could some kind souls consult me regarding the Paypal account setup, please? I'm a newbie with this.

Situation: I managed to setup my Paypal account (was able to successfully transfer money to two separate accounts and receive money from one). I set it up using the bank account link feature instead of the card link feature.
Soon after, however, Paypal requested to "verify my financial account", specifically - confirm it by linking a new bank account or new card. My Paypal account is now limited until I add one more bank account or card.

Question #1: is is normal for Paypal to request for so much private additional information, or am I doing something wrong? Is there a way for me to "verify my account" without adding additional sensitive financial information? Why is one verified bank account info not enough for Paypal?
Getting a hold of Paypal support via email or chat seems impossible and their Q&A do not help with my questions.

Additional questions regarding Paypal:
Question #2: for those who use it to receive donations/payment for their novels/comics/art - do you use private or business account?

Question #3: for those who use pen names for their novels/art - is there a way to avoid showing the real name when doing Paypal transactions (i.e. for pen name to be shown only)? Or is this not possible?

Question #4: how do you keep track of the incoming funds through Paypal to submit for income tax? Any recommendations or tips to keep in mind?

I'd appreciate if someone would be willing to shed some light on any of these questions

[hakei]

for Questions 2 and 3: use a Business account because it gives you the option of displaying your pen name for payments and invoicing, instead of your real name and addresses. Other than that it's not much different from the Personal account and if needed, you can switch back and forth at any time.

[authorvicomara]

Thank you very much for your answers, hakei.

[sushy00]

For question #4 I just keep an Excel myself with incoming funds. I recommend doing this locally (on paper or on your computer).

[authorvicomara]

Thank you, sushy, using Excel makes sense.

[authorvicomara]

@hakei, may I bother you with one more question, please?

When filling-in the mandatory fields for the business account creation, the following question was asked:
"What type of products of services do you sell?" I didn't find anything in relation to writing/creative works in the drop-down selection. The closest I could find was "Miscellaneous Publishing and Printing".

Wanted to check if this is really the one for authors to be used, of if there's a better option I missed?

[hakei]

I don't think that matters too much, I forget what I selected

Oh and for invoicing and such, do make sure to remove any shipping options if all the work is digital. Otherwise scummy people can try get a refund after receiving their commissions by stating that you never "shipped" your product.

How do you remove the "shipping to" address when you send an invoice in PayPal?

[authorvicomara]

Thank you very much for the warning, hakei! 🧡

[system]

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