This article includes information about tax holds and non-tax related payment holds. Continue reading for details about payment holds or click here to jump to Tax Holds.
Payment Holds
What are payment holds?
Payment holds are a common industry practice that Venmo implements to help ensure a safer environment for both buyers and sellers on our platform. As selling products and services online carries some inherent financial risk, these holds provide an easy path to resolution in the event of disputes on eligible payments. For business owners and sellers, this practice also makes it easier to return payments when there’s a need to refund a customer.
When a payment is on hold, businesses and sellers can expect funds to be available in their Venmo account (minus the business transaction fee or seller transaction fee) within 21 days or fewer.
What causes a payment to be on hold?
There are a few different reasons why your payment may be on hold. Here are a few common causes:
- You’re a new seller with Venmo or you’re an established seller but have opened a new account
- The payment you received may be considered unusual for your selling pattern
- Your account was inactive for a while
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You’re selling a product or service that can potentially cause dissatisfaction with customers
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Multiple customers reported problems or requested refunds
How will I know if my payment is on hold?
If you receive a payment that’s been placed on hold, you’ll be notified in the confirmation email for the payment. Payments that are on hold are also displayed with a small “On Hold” badge in your personal transactions feed under the “Me” tab, and you’ll see a held amount at the top that page.
My payment is on hold. What should I do?
When your payment is on hold, the money still belongs to you—it’s just temporarily on hold. Held payments are automatically released within 21 days, meaning that you’ll have access to the funds from any held payment once the hold period expires. When this happens, you’ll receive a notification in the Venmo app and via email explaining that your funds are available.
You can select any payment from your personal transactions feed under the “Me” tab to see whether it’s on hold and view additional payment details. This information is also available when viewing your statement from the web.
How can I avoid payment holds?
Selling products and services online carries some inherent financial risk. To account for this and to create a safer environment for buyers and sellers on Venmo, payment holds are automatically applied to eligible payments. Since these holds are automated, there isn’t a way to stop them from happening.
Tax Holds
What are tax holds?
Due to lower federal IRS reporting thresholds for 2022, you may need to provide Venmo with your tax information if you’re receiving payments for sales of goods and services. To help ensure compliance with new federal regulations, payments received for sales of goods and services in excess of federal or state reporting thresholds will be placed on hold until your tax information is confirmed. If you haven’t received any payments for sales of goods and services, this won’t affect you. If you do receive these payments, we’ll let you know once you’re approaching the threshold and whether any of your payments are on hold.
Learn more about what’s new for tax reporting in 2022 here.
I received a notification asking me to confirm my taxpayer information. What should I do?
If you received this notification, it means that the total value of payments you’ve received for sales of goods and services on Venmo meets or exceeds federal or state IRS reporting thresholds for this kind of income. You can complete identity verification for the affected profile in your Venmo app – just follow the prompt from your Notifications page or look for Identity Verification under your Settings.
Learn more about identity verification on Venmo.
I already confirmed my taxpayer info. Why is my payment on hold?
If you’ve already confirmed your taxpayer information, you may still experience payment holds for a few different reasons. Read more about payment holds and what can cause them.