Comments on: Amazon: North Carolina Affiliates Will Be Terminated When “Unconstitutional Tax Collection Scheme” is Enacted (Another Good Reason to Use Skimlinks?)

By: SitePoint Podcast #19: Compuwhatnow?

SitePoint Podcast #19: Compuwhatnow? — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:28:30 +0000

[...] Amazon: North Carolina Affiliates Will Be Terminated When “Unconstitutional Tax Collection Scheme

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:49:15 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Lynn. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:03:32 +0000

This almost happened to Tennessee not long ago. I sent letters to my representatives and heard back from one. Although I don’t know if my letters helped, at least I felt like I had done something to protect my interests. I, like some other commenters, don’t make all that much with Amazon, but I was afraid that there would be a mass of affiliate programs who would block Tennessee, such as what happened with New York. All in all, this makes me very nervous about putting effort into growing affiliate sales versus finding other ways to support my website habits.

By: What Makes Affiliate Tax (aka “Amazon Tax”) Unconstitutional « Affiliate Marketing Blog

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:42:43 +0000

[...] Reading through the North Carolina “Nexus Clarification and Click-Throughs” posted here the answer may very well end up being negative. Will it help states raise the money that they are [...]

By: Update: Amazon Closes North Carolina Based Associates/Affiliate Accounts (Including Mine, Which Was At Least 9 Years Old) » Patrick O’Keefe

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:00:14 +0000

[...] Associates/Affiliate Accounts (Including Mine, Which Was At Least 9 Years Old) // On June 17, I reported that Amazon.com would be closing the Amazon Associates accounts for all North Carolina ba… due to what they called an “unconstitutional tax collection scheme” that was set to be [...]

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:28:15 +0000

Thanks for the comments Jason, Eric, Carolyn and Mr. Wurschmidt.

By: Leo Wurschmidt

Leo Wurschmidt — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:00:48 +0000

For me it is sad, but not a crushing blow. I thought it was a neat way to infuse my love of reading and writing on my blog(s), along with wanting to help people find books that I recommend with helping Amazon bring in more customers. I think that was the biggest reason I was a disappointed when I read the email from Amazon this morning.

It never paid the bills, but it drove a few pennies in every so often. I hope NC changes their mind on this, but I can also understand their position.

By: carolyn

carolyn — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:03:02 +0000

Ugghh! What a way to wake up this morning. I just turned 50 yesterday and this was not a good way to start the day after for me at all! I have been working 4 long years on my site. I just recently added Amazon as an affiliate and just got to the ’snow ball’ point with their links. The site stripe is so easy to use anytime I need it. My sales were going up, up, up and now this! Boo Hiss! I can’t do this anymore! My mentally disabled child and I depend on the income from my online sales. It keeps me working at home so I can take care of his needs. I am just about to sell everything I own and go to another country if anything else happens. I have written Bev Perdue and asked her to block the legislation. This sucks!

By: Eric Martindale

Eric Martindale — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:19:14 +0000

I was horrified when I received this email… and I am ashamed of our government for enacting this! I’m afraid that some of the other online businesses will be following suit, as this tax collection bill seems pretty broad.

I’m going to do some digging and see if I can’t find more information from the NC State Legislature about this. Maybe @waynesutton will be able to lend a hand?

By: Jason Keath

Jason Keath — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:14:47 +0000

Just shows that states are desperate for cash and are looking to all sorts of new taxes to fill the gap. I imagine there will be some workarounds for people affected by this or we can hope NC will see the light.

Also find it hard to believe that Amazon would blacklist a whole state. Seems like a big bluff. Hopefully the end user is not the one that gets screwed in this scenario.

Have seen similar things in the advertising industry. States and the Fed have tried to slide several versions of taxes on advertising into recent legislation. Though I imagine affiliates have less of a lobbying presence than the ad industry to combat these taxes with.