The IRS asked a San Jose federal judge for access to eBay's PayPal customer records as part of a nationwide probe into whether scofflaws are evading paying taxes by using offshore credit card accounts.

In a complaint filed earlier this week in the U.S. District Court, the IRS is seeking permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on San Jose-based PayPal as part of an ongoing investigation into credit card holders exploiting bank secrecy laws in dozens of foreign countries.

In court documents, Federal investigators said they are seeking records from PayPal because they have no other means to track down the suspected tax evaders who could be using the online payment service to illegally transfer money.

Lawyers with the Justice Department wrote in court papers that "This case is not only important to the administration of tax laws, it may have significant impact upon the public fisc (treasury)."

The federal government has estimated that it loses nearly $40 billion in tax revenue every year as a result of schemes involving credit cards that are linked to foreign tax havens. The government lawyers argued that they've served similar papers on credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard, but their investigators need more information from PayPal to pin down potential violators.

Sara Bettencourt, a spokesperson for PayPal, said the company had not seen the government's court request and could not comment on it specifically. However, Ms. Bettencourt said that PayPal generally cooperates with law enforcement when they seek assistance in particular cases.

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