I posted about the anti-affiliate North Carolina tax that is now in the works, and calls for the affiliate marketers to unite efforts in fighting this bill.
Today a worrying news came from the state of California. Bill AB 178 has been revived. In his “A Stake in the Heart of 25,000 Small California Businesses” article Allan Gray wrote this morning:
Earlier proposed legislation in AB178 was shelved in April. Now the State is getting desperate for money and clutching at straws, this legislation is being resurrected and may be squeezed into another bill.
The estimated additional income to the state is not likely to materialize. Worse than that, it could turn into a net loss for the state. The harm to tens of thousands of small California businesses, and a several large ones, could be irreparable. Collateral damage to other California businesses that support the directly affected businesses is also likely.
It’s time for California-based affiliate marketers to unite forces again. I am tweeting a link to this post to Governor @Schwarzenegger right after posting this. I encourage you to voice out your concern too, and contact your state representatives as well.
More on the importance of the subject and how affiliates can help in this situation:
Pingback: Advertising Tax Back in Play in California
Amazon has sent out thousands of e-mails to California-based affiliates saying that “if this new tax collection scheme were enacted, Amazon would have little choice but to end its advertising relationships with California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program”. My friend, Mark Welch, has just posted about it here (full text of Amazon’s letter is enclosed in his post).
Should anyone need a template of a letter to send to your state representative, see Brian Littleton’s post here.