Is Amazon Dropping Affiliates From Your State?

This happened to New York affiliates too. I was able to find an article that gives the details:

New York Court Dismisses Amazon’s Objections To Paying State Taxes

Wendy

I just got the same email today from Amazon Affiliate Program - I was going to set up several affiliate websites over the next two weeks with Shareasale, CJ, Ebay and Clickbank products - anyone have any idea if they will be affected? I don't want to put in a significant effort if everything is going to disappear here in NC.
Any ideas of what took place in NY?
Thanks
Jeanette

Hi bgmacaw,

My humour is obviously way too cryptic. I recognised your quote immediately, as I use it myself in the same context as yourself. The confused, *shrugging* smiley was meant to resemble someone who feels that 'there's something terribly wrong with the world.' Hence, why I thanked you (previously) for your ironic, but topical post.

So, basically, if passed - there will be no sense in North Carolina residents trying to be an affiliate for any company - because the company would have to charge NC sales tax on any purchases done in NC that were made via any affiliate link.

So, NC would be cutting off another form of income for their residents ... so less money in circulation. Lovely! :rolleyes:

Now, I know there aren't a heck of a lot of us in NC that is even on the internet (especially here in the Foothills) ... but still ...

If you're looking for a new place to do business from, these states currently do not have any sales tax:

Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon.

It's very likely affiliate programs besides Amazon will ban affiliates from states such as
New York that are going to apply sales tax to affiliate sales in their states.

Note: Delaware is a great state for incorporation. Although there's no sales tax on individuals, there is a gross receipt tax (with a highest rate of less than 2%) applied when certain thresholds are met. It might be worthwhile for some people to investigate this.

That's why we already register and pay sales tax in all 50 states. I'd rather go through the expense of setting up and paying sales tax - than dropping Associates who spent their own time, money, and energy building their business. It's not fair to affiliates to give them the opportunity to build a business (which many rely on for their full-time income) --- only to dump them unceremoniously.

I think it's time for the merchants to either fight back - or get set up to pay sales tax in those states.

We may not have a sales tax, but that doesn't mean we have less taxes - they more than make up for it with property taxes and income taxes.

Time to alert Rick Santelli.

Just got an email from LinkShare. The vote in North Carolina has been postponed for a couple of weeks. They are requesting that I send them a "letter to the governor" explaining how this proposed law will impact my business. They even provided a template. They are going to hand deliver it to the key leaders and the governor themselves. If you are a LinkShare affiliate, please check your emails and get your story to them ASAP so they can help.

It is ironic these efforts to get tax money are back firing in these states as the big affiliate programs are just closing shop in those states. It is my understanding, Amazon has canceled the affiliate program in Hawaii, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and looks like New York will be as well pending the legislation.

I would not be surprised to see a few more states added to this mix like California and a number of states in the Northeast like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, etc. Basically, if you live in liberal tax state, you should be concerned about this.

However, if the main companies like Amazon just keep canceling their affiliate programs in those states, other states may be less inclined to pursue this measure. After all, Amazon would be the major revenue generator from these taxes and if they are not in the picture, any taxes gained would be significantly limited. Also, Amazon seems to be gradually moving away from using affiliates as they have made changes that have hurt affiliates in the last year like not allowing affiliates to direct link in the US or put a uniform cap on referrals earned in the UK.

Also, as mentioned some states are in much better shape financially than others. They have little incentive to start this type of tax and should have a greater business incentive to not tax as this can help bring in more business to their state allowing them to get more revenue from a pull strategy rather than a push strategy. This should actually create an opportunity for those states.

For all those living in states that have or will likely see this change, I agree this type of tax is fundamentally unfair. It is terrible that you will have to pay for other people's excesses. If you are able to do so, you should strongly consider moving to more tax friendly states. I know this is not necessarily practical for everyone, but I fear there will be more taxes like these in the future. Sending letters to the legislators sounds noble and productive, but I fear they will not listen as past history has shown to be the case. The best thing people could really do in those states is vote for and help elect new people on the next election cycle who promise tax reform.

I want to know who exactly put that nexus language in the bill.

Cash37, this sounds like an issue where as many IM's need to get involved on the local level to let our legislatures know that we aren't taking this kind of crap from them any more!

You're right Jackie. As they say down South "they can kill ya, but they can't eat ya". I never quite understood what that meant, but it seems to apply here. Maybe we should adopt that as our new motto, lol. Greedy B@st@rds. Ah, well. No sales = no taxes to be collected. Smaaaaaaart.

I'm from "Rogues Island", (Rhode island, but we call it that because of the crooks running this state) and I got the news from both Amazon and a PepperJam advertiser. Luckily I don't base my income on these two. I feel for those that do!

Nonetheless, I can't believe the decisions that these numb skulls in Providence have been making over the last couple of years and this is the latest in a string of really stupid actions by the governor and the general assembly to grab money from the wrong places.

"Hey, I got an idea lets tax the crap out of legitimate small businesses or anyone they do business with, now that we've drained everyone else's pockets" And the downward spiral continues...

I'm no economist, and apparently neither are they, but it would seem to me that the more they stifle commerce online or off the less money there will be in the 'system' for others.

My fear is that affiliate marketing is going to be dead to me now. If Amazon and NetShops dropped me then who is going to be next in line?

Oh well, maybe it's time to move to New Hampshire.

Their rational is that this type of affiliate marketing gives us an unfair advantage over the brick and mortar stores, who, no doubt have highly paid lobbyists, so they are trying any trick they can to "level the playing field". We just moved to NC three months ago, so had no say in who the elected officials were. But, I can guarantee, if we stay in this state, that we will come next election time.

Now, a word about lobbyists. My brother used to be a lobbyist, so I know about the inner workings of that business. On his desk was a beautifully done plaque, that instead of saying director or vice president, it said "Please don't tell my mother that I'm a lobbyist. She thinks that I'm a piano player at a whorehouse". No offense to the world's oldest profession, lol.