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New York’s New Law Affects 3400 Affiliate Marketers
May 23, 2008
Welcome everyone! Have any of you heard of the New York tax law that will be taking effect as of June 1, 2008? Well if you’re an affiliate marketer and live in New York I’m sure you have.
This law has been responsible for the 3400 New York based affiliates that were laid off by Overstock.com
- check out this post Overstocks Drops Their Affiliates.
Former Governor Elliot Spitzer or “client #9″ as I would like to call him, because of the prostitute ring scandal he was caught up in and had to resigned because of.
In the ring he was client#9. You can find out more about it in this article of The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer.
He was the one who made the bogus law charging tax on purchases made online from online retailers that don’t have a tax nexus in New York. David Patterson current Governor follows up with the law after Spitzer resigns.
Amazon took a stand and filed a complaint with the State Supreme Court. I must say this was a smart move for them. Overstock I feel jumped the gun in letting all of their affiliates go. It’s going to really hurt them in the long run.
People are talking about boycotting Overstock.
And the affiliates they lost may not want to come back. On top of all this the rate at which they gain affiliates might drop as people might not want to work with them because of the incident.
Sites like Clickbank, Amazon, and ShareASale have already decided to stick to their consumers and affiliates side.
The conclusion of all this will be known when Amazon’s lawsuit is finally settled, and being that the law is going to kick in as of June 1, 2008 they should be coming to a decision very soon.
If they win then the law can be thrown out, and hurray for us New York affiliates. If they don’t win, then most likely other states will quickly apply the law as well. It is already being spoken that California might be the next state to apply the law if Amazon loses.
In my case this is very touchy since I am a resident of New York and affiliate marketing is my main source of income. This can definitely hurt me if things don’t go the right way so yes I’m rooting for Amazon!
What Do You Guys Think About All This?
Did Overstock.com Jump The Gun, or Did They Do The Right thing? Who Do You Think Will Win, Amazon Or The State?
I came across your blog on Technorati. Nice site layout. I will stop by and read more soon.
Mike Harmon
Thanks for the compliment Mike, I look forward to having you as a reader.
I do not live in New York, but I liked your blog even if I had lived in new york that advice should be useful to me.
Out of 1000 friend requests you have been the only one smart enough to send be back a message. LOL But hey, I blogged about the same thing and rather than regurgitate it all here you may want to just read my post.
http://www.keywebdata.com/?p=92
Some of my friends are a little on the conspiracy theorist side.
What this is really about is whether or not the law will be struck down. The feds extended the law that prohibits internet taxes till 2014. Yet the greedy states (you bastards) are about to embark on another “why isn’t my hand in the cookie jar” foot stomping fit.
What happens if all the states start trying to double and triple tax us? Well my next blog post will be written from a beach in Mexico, my server will send you the link from offshore and when you buy my ebook the cash will land in….. Well I better keep that to myself.
@Daniel - Thanks, it should be because more states will follow in New York’s footsteps and apply the law as well. This is bad for affiliate marketing period, not just affiliates in New York.
@Chris - I absolutely agree. Since the law is currently in effect and has been since June 1st, now it’s all about whether or not the law will be “struck down.” This will be much harder, because other states are already planning on taking the same actions New York (us bastards) did. I heard California might be the next batter up, hopefully they strike out - but in all reality New York must first drop the law in order for any other state to be unsuccessful.
Each time the state raises taxes people look for ways to avoid the tax. The result is a growth in disrespect for the state and for its taxing authority. The internet thrives on people finding new ways to do things. I suspect NY State will lose in the end because more people will be encouraged to find new ways to avoid paying this tax and later other taxes.
newyorkdude
newyorkdudeinindia.blogspot.com
Great post Luis. I’m not based in the states but it’s nice to get this kind of news since we never get to hear about this type of news in the UK. Hopefully our government over here won’t get any similar bright ideas
DesDrec.
Thanks DesDrec! I know. Let’s hope no government makes as clever a decision as this one. This law truly was uncalled for.