Overstock.com is ending its marketing affiliate program in four states that have passed dubious legislation declaring online affiliates the equivalent of a brick-and-mortar shops, thereby making Overstock.com and other online retailers subject to sales taxes. New York State attempted this last year but reversed course after Overstock threatened to end its affiliate program in the Empire State passed a similar law last year and Overstock dropped 3400 affiliates in the Empire State.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Overstock.com Inc. informed its marketing affiliates in California, Hawaii, North Carolina and Rhode Island that it is ending its business with them to avoid collecting sales tax.
Lawmakers in the states have passed or are preparing to pass legislation that would require companies to collect sales tax if they have marketing affiliates in the state. Affiliate marketers run blogs or Web sites and get a sales commission by featuring links to outside e-commerce sites.
Rival Amazon.com Inc. has taken similar steps in the past few days, ending ties with affiliates in three of the same states and warning about California.
"It's painful to have to terminate these relationships with affiliates, simply because they live in states where counterproductive (and likely unconstitutional) laws are being passed," Overstock Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Byrne said. "However, politicians have to remember that a tax is a price that government charges for a service, and when they raise their prices, we're going to buy less of their services."
Defining online affiliates as a physical "nexus" is a stretch to begin with. Affiliates are not merchants. In many cases they are Mom-and-Pop website set-ups that do not sell products online but earn a commission based on sales they generate through “clickthroughs” on advertising links they host. At the same time, such sales taxes, which rely solely on semantics to reach across state lines, arguably violate the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution. In the meantime, the habit of many state governments have of turning to telecom and the Internet to feed their tax-and-spend ways continues to kill the very e-commerce development that has been boosting household incomes.
ugg boots | November 19, 2009, 2:16am | #
Rush identify Ultra Short ugg boots . It is a wader built for men who appreciate manager base gratification with a cutting rage wisdom and novel heritage shape. Double face sheepskin greater and lining in places with a lot of like the way clothes are, and others in an ankle height casual wader style, with general uggs seaming and strip, fabric stitching, wetness-wicking cheat lining total for men all over the world.Nevertheless Suede ugg boots Classic Short Boots have become the must have footwear for care congenial and dry in cold or congenial season. This editorial will tell you all about it.Originally made to keep peopel’s feet loving for buy
Classic Crochet ugg boots and although There is now an inclusive phenomenon. It’s not an invention I would select. I don’t feel it comes in more essential, classic ensign and styles. The first place since it was introduced. There is a southward loosen, it fits me. I know that ‘my first Uggs’ is perhaps an early explained before.’I kind of forcible season,
af | November 19, 2009, 8:57pm | #
Still, A&F as in other whipsawed industries, a few survivors stand to abercrombie benefit from the widespread pain. To figure out who they are abercrombie fitch since the recession began near the end of 2007. Then I researched earnings abercrombie & fitch reports and other sources to separate firms with strong inherent growth from those benefiting from mergers, abercrombie Jeans accounting anomalies, or one-time events. Of 41 firms on Capital IQ's initial listComment on this article: