Following New York, California, Minnesota, Tennessee, Hawaii, Connecticut and North Carolina, Maryland now considers the “Amazon tax” as well. Gazette.net wrote earlier today:
A proposal to tax certain online sales in Maryland has drawn the wrath of some Internet retailers and business organizations, while attracting support from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot.
Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington said he recently filed the legislation to help plug a multimillion-dollar budget gap. The bill is similar to a 2008 New York law, and Madaleno expects the measure to raise about $7 million annually in Maryland.
The bill essentially mimics that of New York. Gazette.net continues [original wording retained]:
The sales tax would be collected by affiliates of Amazon and similar retailers based in Maryland that earn commissions for sending Maryland customers to those retailers through referrals, such as a banner on their Internet sites.
It is also being reported that earlier this week Amazon stated that they “would cancel contracts with affiliates in Maryland if the state adopts such a tax.”
I saw this Gazette article this morning. This finally came to my neck of the woods and it’s going to continue to spread throughout the country. It’s time to take some action!
Yes, Ayako.
By the way, it is Senate Bill (SB) 1071 of April 3, 2009, and there is more info on it here, while the full text of it is located here.
Amazon has expressed “their clear opposition to Maryland’s version of the ‘Amazon tax'”. See more in Jangro’s Amazon’s Letter to Maryland Senator Currie blog post.
Latest News: “Maryland Advertising Tax SB 1071 is dead” and “similar measures have been defeated” in Virginia and Hawaii [source]. Good news. Very good news!
And another post on the subject: Maryland Advertising Tax SB 1071 Gets Squashed (by Missy Ward).
WTG, Maryland affiliate marketers!!