Thanks to the encouragement of the Performance Marketing Association, I recently contacted my Indiana State Senator, Luke Kenley, with regard to the status of advertising tax legislation in Indiana. It was fortuitous that Senator Kenley happens to be both my own State Senator as well as the President of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. The body was created by the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures to deal with the issue of sales tax collection as a result of Bellas Hess v. Illionis and Quill Corp. v. North Dakota.
[Read more…]
Help Fight the Advertising Tax
The advertising tax/affiliate tax/Amazon tax is threatening to kill small businesses just like mine, and it is time that I join the fight. I’ll be honest and admit that I am new to this. When the legislation first started popping up, I figured if it wasn’t my state, it didn’t impact me. Then I really started paying attention and listening to what was happening. I listened in to the entire Colorado proceedings and followed along with my friends on Twitter. By the end of the night, I knew that regardless of whether the fight was about Indiana, I needed to be better educated and get involved.
States are attempting to use legislation to get around federal laws that prohibit them from collecting sales tax from out of state businesses unless there is a “nexus” within that state. The states are passing legislation that would make an affiliate a “nexus,” despite the fact that we do not take any money or send out any goods. States think that they will increase their revenue. Conversely, the merchants are just disaffiliating with the affiliates and the affiliates are losing their businesses. How is that good for anyone involved?
Following the advice of the Performance Marketing Association, I made a quick video about how you can get involved in fighting the advertising tax. It doesn’t matter which group you join or if you even join a group. The bottom line is that you need to 1) get educated, 2) get connected with others involved, and 3) spread the word. While big businesses may have the money to fight these fights, we have the voices and the personal stories that can stop states from taking our businesses away from us.
[youtube1]gWmZ8HRXilg[/youtube1]