Each app provider must decide which procedures it will use to accommodate the rule change and will need to alert their customers about what, if anything, will be required of them to better identify the nature of their transactions.For instance, PayPal, which now owns Venmo, recently put out an initial Q&A for users of both apps. It noted that "In the coming months, we may ask you to provide tax information like your Employer Identification Number (EIN), Individual Tax ID Number (ITIN) or Social Security Number (SSN), if you haven't provided it to us already."The net effect of the new reporting requirements for users of payment apps may be that some will ask customers to pay them in cash  -  at least for smaller amounts like tips. Or, as Luscombe noted, they may decide to only use an app for taxable business transactions and keep their other, non-taxable transactions separate. If you're among the millions of people who use payment apps like PayPal, Venmo, Square, and other third-party electronic payment networks, you could be affected by a tax reporting change that goes into effect in January.