Posts Tagged advertising tax
Affiliate Advocacy Conference Call about the #AdvertisingTax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Legal Matters on March 9th, 2010
Just finished listening to the Affiliate Advocacy Conference Call with Melanie Seery. Her main guests were Brian Littleton, CEO of ShareASale, and Jen Goode, who was one of the main affiliates fighting the advertising tax successfully in Colorado.
Here are some of initial highlights that I got from the call.
Brian Littleton offered some great tips for communicating with legislators including:
- Don’t mention the unconstitutionality of any legislation. Legislators don’t like being told that what they are doing is unconstitutional.
- Most legislators have two offices, one in their district and one at the legislature. Go to or call whichever is smallest.
From Jeannine Crooks who was having some audio difficulty unfortunately:
- Don’t threaten to move. They generally don’t care.
Threats never work. Neither does telling them they are breaking the law. Stay level-headed and focus on the negative impact of the legislation.
One of the best tips came from Jen Goode who suggested that you try to find a local tie that affiliate marketing has to an organization in the legislator’s district, such as a non-profit or a school that uses affiliate marketing to raise money. This worked very well for them in Colorado.
More to come on this subject but these were some great tips!
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Virginia and Vermont Advertising Tax Updates - Great News!
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Legal Matters on February 24th, 2010
Great news for Virginia and Vermont affiliates today! Both advertising tax bills died.
Here is the latest from the Performance Marketing Alliance (PMA) via Twitter. More to come later 
Breaking News: Colorado Affiliate Tax is Dead!
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Legal Matters on February 8th, 2010
Way to go Colorado affiliates!
The Performance Marketing Association just broke the news that HB 1193 will not include the Advertising / Affiliate Tax in Colorado.
From the PMA:
An agreement was reached today on HB 1193: the inclusion of affiliates establishing nexus will be removed from the bill entirely. HB1193 will now become a bill solely focused on collecting use tax, and nothing to do whatsoever with affiliates.
State of Affiliate Marketing Part Two from ReveNews
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Revenews Posts on February 8th, 2010
My latest article on ReveNews.com was posted Saturday.
The Way I See It: State of Affiliate Marketing Part Two
covers some of the challenges facing our industry. The three biggest that I cover are the affiliate/advertising tax, Google’s finicky nature, and the emergence of way too many shady programs in the past few years.
It’s not all doom and gloom, but affiliate marketers and managers must be cognisant of the threats to our industry and take action to prevent them for worsening and to fight to remove them.
Feel free to comment on ReveNews and voice your opinions!
About ReveNews: ReveNews is a trusted, unbiased source focusing on Internet related industries such as online marketing, SEM, affiliate marketing, retail (e-commerce), analytics, spyware, blogging and much more. ReveNews authors consist of highly respected thinkers, commentators and business people who have real experience and insight. ReveNews readers include industry gurus, top-level executives and CEO’s, plus many of the industry’s top net-repreneurs; all coming together to create a global Internet community to distribute, discuss and analyze the industry at hand.
Breaking News: Affiliate Tax Passes Colorado House
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Legal Matters on February 1st, 2010
House Bill 1193 (the Affiliate, Advertising, Internet tax) just passed the Colorado House of Representatives by a vote of 33-32.
Brian Littleton, CEO of ShareASale, and Lisa Picarille both reported that Rep. Joe Rice may have been the first Democrat in any state to speak out against the tax, so perhaps there is a silver lining there. According to Littleton, he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea of the tax, but he knows that it won’t work. He is right! It won’t! It just means good affiliates in Colorado are going to seek out homes elsewhere while others have to give up.
One vote! That was the difference.
It’s on to the Senate now. From there, the last line of defense is the Governor and the outlook is bleak there.
As a side note (and I will post much more about this later), I do want to to say that at first glance, Colorado affiliates really had their act together and were really organized. Way to go guys!
Is your state organized? Because it’s likely coming your way, unfortunately. In case the threat didn’t seem real before, it’s getting all too real in some places now.
If you are a Colorado affiliate it may be time to take Melanie Seery’s advice and “Identify vulnerable merchants and find replacements.”
We will keep standing up for what is right. No affiliate terminations on my watch!
Breaking News: New Mexico Affiliate Tax Tabled in Committee
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on January 28th, 2010
In what can be considered a small win, House Bill 50 (AKA the “affiliate tax”) in New Mexico was tabled in committee today.
This was first reported by one of my favorite people in the business, Daniel M. Clark via Twitter.
What does tabled mean exactly? I am not sure…waiting on more details!
EDIT: Additional information:
Affiliate Tax in Colorado #advertisingtax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News, Legal Matters on January 26th, 2010
Colorado has introduced House Bill 10-1193, introducing the affiliate/advertising tax.
I have been meaning to post this and add my own commentary since yesterday but I finally decided to just link to Geno Prussakov’s post from Sunday.
Urgent action is needed…the committee is meeting tomorrow (January 27) on this!
Check out Geno’s post and learn more about the Colorado Affiliate Tax. Also, check out what you can do about the affiliate tax, whether you live in Colorado or not.
Your Voice is Needed in North Carolina Regarding the #AdvertisingTax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on January 18th, 2010
Just came across a post by Rich Owings on ABestWeb:
Hi all,
I learned the other day that the Governor has established a Budget Reform and Accountability Commission. The link goes to a form where citizens can make suggestions. As of last week, they had only received 400, and they have the web suggestions on their agendas, so it appears they will consider anything submitted. I urge you all to submit your take on the nexus legislation, and how it has decreased income tax revenues and not resulted in increased sales tax.
Rich Owings
If you are in North Carolina, please visit the comment form and let them know what you think about the advertising tax!
Performance Marketing Alliance Files Amicus Brief in New York #advertisingtax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on September 11th, 2009
It is yet to be determined what, if any, impact this will have, but there is some encouraging news out of New York regarding the advertising / affiliate tax.
The Performance Marketing Alliance (PMA) filed an amicus brief Wednesday supporting Amazon’s appeal of the New York advertising / affiliate tax. If you recall, New York passed a law last year that requires internet retailers to charge state sales tax on purchases by New York residents, based on the notion that an affiliate living in New York constitutes a physical presence in the state (this is an oversimplification of the nexus law, but you get the point).
Other states like North Carolina and Rhode Island have passed similar laws, while states such as Hawaii and California shot them down. States like Maryland and Missouri are considering them currently.
You can read more about the brief on PMA’s web site.
Warning to Maryland Affiliates Regarding #advertisingtax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on September 2nd, 2009
My friend Melanie Seery of Affiliate Voice just blogged about the Maryland Advertising Tax rearing its ugly head again in 2010. The new nexus legislation aims to replicate the laws in New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina. As you may or may not remember, similar legislation was proposed in Maryland earlier this year but died in committee.
Apparently it is time for round two. Are you ready?
Read all about it on the Affiliate Voice blog.
Mellie, thanks for all your hard work on behalf of the affiliate marketing industry!
Here We go Again: Missouri Wants an Affiliate Tax?
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on August 25th, 2009
Yesterday I read a post on the ABestWeb forum from Matt Enders in North Carolina about Missouri being the next to enact an affiliate / advertising tax. While the source of the post (a letter to his friend in NC) may seem unthreatening, this could get bad for affiliate marketers.
Matt covers the topic great on his blog, and my friend Geno Prussakov does such a great job explaining this as well, that I will spare you my commentary, other than to remind you of what YOU can do. You can read our list of action items to fight the affiliate tax from earlier this year. Here are some resources for Missouri as well:
- Contact Your Missouri legislator now.
- Use hashtags #moadvertisingtax and #moaffiliatetax
More action items to come so be on the lookout!
Why do so Few Affiliates Care about the Advertising Tax?
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on August 12th, 2009
My friend Geno Prussakov posted on his blog Monday about the paltry number of attendees at the Affiliate Summit session on the Advertising Tax.
One thing that I felt sorry to witness was the fact that out of the 2,500 Affiliate Summit’s attendees only 29 came to the “Advertising Tax: What Happened and What’s Next” session. Taking into consideration that 7 of them left the room when the Q&A session started, the total number of attentive listeners equaled less than 1% of the conference’s attendees. Karen Garcia has mentioned to me that similar attendance numbers were registered on the Day 1 when an “Advertising Tax Impact, Accomplishments and the Future” panel was held.
| Why is it that so few affiliates seem to care about the advertising tax? North Carolina affiliates sure seem to care, at least based on the affiliate forums and efforts put forth over the past few months there. So do California affiliates, Rhode Island affiliates, Hawaii affiliates, and other states that have been effected recently by the advertising tax. In California, the outcry from affiliates was a big reason that Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the Advertising Tax. |  |
I understand that it is a boring issue. Taxes are never fun. But this greatly impacts you if you live in the United States. So many states are facing record budget deficits this year and probably will next year as well. They are going to be looking for any and every way to collect more revenue. (Read: new taxes).
The issue is causing families to move to avoid the tax, which will significantly reduce their income. It is causing programs to shut down their affiliate programs in certain states, another reason for many families moving. It is causing some affiliates to seek alternative employment and newbies to never get started.
We will continue to be an advocate against this tax, publicly in any way that we can be involved. I hope you will join the effort as well!
What can you do? Read this post about actions that YOU can take.
Quick Update: NC Affiliate Tax Passes
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on August 5th, 2009
This sucks. The North Carolina Legislature has passed the advertising / affiliate tax and it is now on to the Governor, who will undoubtedly sign it. Thanks to Melanie Seery for keeping us all up to date.
What does this mean for our NC affiliates? Well, nothing. We are not getting rid of anyone, but it does suck for the industry.
Don’t let this happen in your state! Learn what actions you can take against the affiliate tax in your state.
North Carolina Budget to Include #advertisingtax
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on August 5th, 2009
As best as I can follow on the news today, it seems that North Carolina is going to pass their budget today or very soon and the final version includes the advertising/affiliate tax.
According to Melanie Seery of AffiliateVoice:
It is expected that North Carolina, like Rhode Island, will have a strict interpretation of the nexus definition.
Meaning, merchants are going to pull out (not Legacy Learning Systems though!) immediately as the law becomes effective immediately. Any merchant whose North Carolina affiliates earn $10,000 or more in sales made to North Carolina residents, much charge the tax.
So many people have fought this. So many affiliates banded together, organized, and worked tirelessly to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, the result was not what any of us wanted, but I have to say it was nice to see everyone join together for a common cause.
If you are not in North Carolina, let this be a warning to your state! Start taking action now before you begin the fight against these taxes. Did North Carolinians and the rest of us fighting this wait too long? Maybe, maybe not. But what if we had all started even sooner?
Be prepared to fight this tax in your state now!
New York Affiliate Tax Survey
Posted by Matt McWilliams in Affiliate Marketing News on August 1st, 2009
Shawn Collins is asking New York affiliates to participate in a survey to gather data which will be used to inform legislators and other policy makers about the true impact of the advertising tax. If you were a New York affiliate in 2008, please take the survey.
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