Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 8/5/10

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

South Carolina - A commission has been formed, the South Carolina Tax Realignment Commission (TRAC) to evaluate various tax proposals.The commission was created jointly by the legislature and the governor, and includes politicians and members of the business community. This commission has until November 15 to submit its recommendation. It will be taking public comments at a hearing scheduled for August 13th. Join the Google Group. Sign the PMA petition.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 8/5/10

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

California - Yesterday the Budget Conference Committee met to vote on various tax propositions to include in the budget. Unfortunately, the voted FOR the affiliate nexus tax. This is despite assurances from a couple of committee members that there were no plans to pursue it. What does this mean? It will most likely be put into some variation of a budget bill and sent to the state Assembly and Senate to be voted on. It also means we will have to fight very hard to get it stopped in the legislature. Join the Google Group.Sign the PMA petition.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 7/6/10

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

California - Both houses of the state legislature, the Assembly and the Senate, have adjourned for the summer. They are adjourning before there is an approved budget and it is unclear which groups or committees will be formulating budget proposals. The legislators have been instructed to spend their time in their district offices for the next 30 to 60 days, but are asked to be within 24 hours from Sacramento, so they can return if there is an emergency session. The Budget Conference Committee has not revisited the issue of use tax collection or ad tax proposals since it was first discussed 2 weeks ago. It is unclear if they will pick up that issue, when they will meet again, or if another group will consider it.

The good news is that the legislators who have been involved in budget issues are familiar with the issues and seem to understand the negative impact of the ad tax on affiliate marketers. The bad news is we don't know who will be considering the issue in the future. Please stay tuned.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 7/6/10

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

North Carolina - The ACLU has filed suit against the state of North Carolina, intervening in the lawsuit previously filed by Amazon. In an attempt to force nexus, North Carolina has approached several out-of-state merchants, including Amazon, who terminated affiliates when the ad tax passed. The state is requiring detailed purchase information back to 2003, in an attempt to collect back sales tax, claiming these merchants already had nexus established if they had affiliates even prior to the ad tax being passed. As part of the audit, the state is requiring personally identifiable information on each purchase.

"The Constitution does not permit government agencies to conduct such sweeping collections of our personal and private information," said Aden Fine, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. "Disclosing the purchase records of thousands of Amazon customers would violate their constitutional rights to read and purchase the lawful materials of their choice, free from government intrusion."

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 5/26/10

Wed, 26 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Connecticut - DEAD: In February, 2010, Senate bill SB 5481 was introduced by the Senate finance committee. The bill was passed by the senate committee and passed by the House. But days before the legislative session was to end, the leaders of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee had a change of heart; they recognized the bill would not protect retailers, would not help the state, but would only harm affiliate businesses. The legislative session ended May 5th without passing the ad tax.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 5/6/10

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Connecticut - The Connecticut legislation ended at midnight without passing the ad tax. This was an extremely difficult fight, and frankly, we thought we were going to lose. Thanks to a small but mighty group of affiliate marketers, and an extremely talented lobbyist, the ad tax was finally defeated.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 5/3/10

Mon, 03 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Connecticut - Connecticut may abandon the The chances of survival for a controversial bill to force collection of sales taxes on Internet transactions have become very slim as the regular legislative session nears its May 5 deadline, key lawmakers said Thursday. The problem, according to leaders of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, is that many legislators fear businesses could be harmed regardless of whether action is taken. Read the full article, "http://www.ctmirror.org/story/5680/legislators-likely-drop-amazon-law-now by Keith M. Phaneuf, featured on The Connecticut Mirror site.

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 4/22/10

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Colorado - What the Colorado Internet Sales Tax Means to Retailers
As Shop.org's tagline goes, we are the digital division of the National Retail Federation (NRF). This means that we have access to some amazing resources from NRF including Maureen Riehl, a vice president in NRF's government relations department and an expert on Internet sales tax. The recent law passed in Colorado related to this topic has raised many questions. Below are some very helpful thoughts from her on what this means to digital retail. Read More....

- by Scott Silverman, Executive Director, Shop.org

Internet Tax Developments by State - Updated 4/19/10