Quick question though, say I open up an online business selling online services. Do we have laws to govern online trade ? What kind of permit would one require? How would you claim your earnings' taxes?

I really have no idea on the matter at all, kindly don't take any assumptions !
7 days later
So is it already started in Lebanon ?
I tried to open an account, Lebanon was not in the list...
When it will be up here then ?
AVOlio wroteSo is it already started in Lebanon ?
I tried to open an account, Lebanon was not in the list...
When it will be up here then ?
They said in 2013, they didn't specify the exact date, could be December 2013.
a month later
hey guys, paypal was launched in Egypt last month, and I have read online that it was launched in Lebanon too but Lebanon is still not on the list. Does anyone know when will we be able to start using paypal?
Astex wrotehey guys, paypal was launched in Egypt last month, and I have read online that it was launched in Lebanon too but Lebanon is still not on the list. Does anyone know when will we be able to start using paypal?
I have read about that, but they said that they launched a limited PayPal service there. Limited to what though?
mmk92 wrote I have read about that, but they said that they launched a limited PayPal service there. Limited to what though?
you cannot link it to your bank account and withdraw money you've got, you can just use it to pay online with your credit card.
a month later
Any new news on this? Its been 5 month since they claimed they're launching it here and we still didn't get it.

Anyone heard any rumors or knows an approximate date?

Also I think this thread should be moved to the lobby.
2 months later
I need to purchase a plugin, only payment option available is PayPal. Can someone offer to purchase it for me, and I'll pay extra for him/her please?
Nabs wroteI need to purchase a plugin, only payment option available is PayPal. Can someone offer to purchase it for me, and I'll pay extra for him/her please?
Facebook.
2 months later
Whatever happened to Paypal for Lebanon? Any news?
I dont know, but I remember some member recommending Moneybookers / Skrill on this thread. I just want to say: don't use it!
I strongly recommend against it, and that's from personal experience, but if you look for reviews you will find lots of negative reviews and bad ratings, in fact they seem to make the majority of reviews.

Their rates are attractive, but what happens to many people and happened to me, is that they will block withdrawals from your account without warning, and ask you to do verifications which are very annoying and, from what I read, sometimes simply not work.
In my case what happened is that I was only able to withdraw part of my received funds from my accounts. To withdraw the rest I had to do an address verification (this was a total surprize, as I had already verified my phone number and many other things and my limits were very high! No reason was given...). I filled in my address but the letter never came, probably because I made a small mistake in the address. Now I have found NO WAY to change the address or get through to them so that they can change it or help me out, so my money is stuck indefinitely in their account, like many other dissatisfied customers - and I don't trust them not to try to charge me for stuff until it disappears!

Plus they're not that cheap, with their exchange rate and their fees, it is only marginally cheaper than western union, and only interesting for really small sums (under $200), and only used once - after that the likelyhood of them demanding "verifications" increases a lot. It's not worth it.

Now to answer the questions "what is paypal"... Paypal is an easy way to transfer money. It allows people to send money to you using only your email address. It can be easily integrated into your website, also allows you to pay others easily - and also quickly.

Until now, the options for international money transfer were bank account transfer, which is somewhat expensive (costs a minimum of $20), and slow (takes like 3 or more days), and requires the sender fill in a bunch of information (account number, bank number, name...) and in some places, usually the case in Lebanon, you can't do it online and have to go to the bank to do it. If you want to receive payments by credit card on your website, it's also a pain to set up and expensive! Paypal is a better alternative to all of these on many aspects.
22 days later
I still don't understand why Paypal guys are banning Lebanon, we have the best banks in the Middle East region.
so is it political?
vegetaleb wroteI still don't understand why Paypal guys are banning Lebanon, we have the best banks in the Middle East region.
so is it political?
No. They probably had little economic incentive to pour resources into abiding by the transaction processing rules and regulations set by the central bank of Lebanon. They can't just open up shop randomly. There's a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy involved.
Which makes it surprising that bitcoins aren't that popular in the area.
Don't forget that local ''woukala'' don't want paypal in Lebanon because it could increasing outside import thanks to easier way to pay in internet,but meanwhile lot of potential startups like selling Lebanese sweets and arts to other countries can't see the light.
You can't imagine how many people made money by opening online shops + paypal. You can bypass the local Lebanese tiny market and reach millions of customers worldwide.
We should also have cheaper DHL companies too
Regarding Paypal for Lebanon, I've done some research, and it seems that Lebanon has some "OFAC" (whatever that stands for) sanctions applied to it
BLOCKED:The assets of "persons undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic processes" are blocked. Donations to these persons are forbidden.
Penalties: Criminal conviction can result in a fine of up to $1 million, and for natural persons imprisonment for up to 20 years. Civil penalties of up to the greater of $250,000 or an amount twice the amount of the transaction involved.
Although I understand that the penalties are only for cases where it is proven that the sanctions were willfully avoided, and that the sanctions only apply to a set of persons (I couldn't find any names, though...), I infer that having Paypal in Lebanon will be an additional risk (and administrative expense) for them, because of these regulations.

I don't know about Egypt and other countries, and if there are countries with comparable situations (small and on the OFAC list), maybe someone else can look that up.

More details about Lebanon here:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Documents/fr75_44907.pdf

Other links:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/pages/leb.aspx
http://www.bankersonline.com/ofac/ofacchart.html#LEB

PS: Two other American payment processing companies, 2checkout and Stripe accept payments from Lebanon, it seems, so it does seem to be possible to set up... I guess in this case the best way to stir the situation is sign up with the competition.

PS2: Paypal is avalaible in Egypt now (as of not very long ago), so maybe Lebanon is next.
2 months later
2013 is coming to an end and still, there is no paypal in Lebanon. Any news?
I was googling some staff about this and i found out this from Paypal volunteer saying :
Info like that is not normally shared with the community forums until after the fact. As each country has different banking and transaction processing rules and regulations, PayPal must first figure out what services they are permitted to offer.
Looks like there's going to be a delay.