Nexus Taxes Killing Affiliates Not Just Amazon Now Google Too – August 2011

If you run a website that relies on advertising to make an income you probably heard about the Nexus Tax Laws that have recently been enacted in a number of states.

California was one of the biggest offenders of double taxation on income earned through affiliate programs.

The way these programs are set up is a business will give you a percentage based on sales that are directed through your website. Amazon was one of the largest offering a number of ways to present Amazon products to your visitors and then maybe get a few dollars a month that could cover your hosting fees.

Some Affiliates do make good money but most only make about $1,000 a year if they are lucky.

When a business pays a website owner taxes are paid on the percentage that the business pays the website owner.

So, any item being sold by an affiliate is having taxes paid but states enacted legislature saying that any business that had an affiliate in their state actually had a point of presence in the state.

When large companies incorporate and have offices in many states they not only have to pay all the normal taxes any business would but they are regulated differently.

THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE INTERNET IS

The business can be anywhere .. it can be in Texas or California or Canada or even if you get on Ebay you can purchase items from other countries .. even directly from china where everything is made … hmm

But instead of following the policy that the internet should not be taxed these states that have over spent for years.. who spend billions of dollars educating illegal aliens (california 6 billion a year alone) have decided that they would rather shut down the ability of website owners to make a little spending money because they are greedy.

Amazon shut down the accounts of over 10,000 website affiliates because of the California law and more in other states that enacted the same laws.

HOWEVER no one thought that they would go after Google Advertisers..

Welp today I received a notice from a good company that I enjoy working with saying that they will need to shutdown all accounts in states that enact Nexus Tax Laws.

So far the state I am in has not enacted these laws and although my state is over budget they are not wildly overbudget like New York or California.. Hopefully enough people will complain to end these laws before my state follows their lead.

Here is the notice I got today that I am betting a lot of Google Advertising Affiliates are freaking out about…

The company name has been redacted because I like their company. AND IT IS NOT THEIR FAULT

Dear Valued Publisher
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx has recently made important updates to their affiliate Terms & Conditions.

The updates pertain specifically to the following:

States that Adopt Nexus Laws: xxxxxxxxxxxx, will not be able to have relationships with affiliates in States that adopt the Nexus Tax Laws. These Nexus Tax Laws specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by affiliates like you – even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

You can find the updated Terms & Conditions in the xxxxxxxxxxx advertiser profile in xxxxxxxx. We ask that you please review these updated terms immediately to ensure continued compliance.

Please contact us with any questions and thank you for your continued support of the xxxxxxxxx affiliate program.
Sincerely,