In the course of this past week I have made only one mention of the advertising tax in my blog, and it was the Drs. Foster and Smith Terminates Virginia Affiliates post, which was quoted by Melanie Seery of AffiliateAdvocacy.com in her Where is the Progress? rhetorically-questioned reflections on the following day. But the lack of my blog posts on the topic has unfortunately been no sign of no news to report. They have simply been so numerous that all I could do was tweet, tweet, tweet, and retweet, and these are just very few of the tweets on the topic out there (follow hashtag #noadtax for real time updates)…
So what has really happened in the course of this, probably the busiest, advertising tax week so far?
Here’s my brief collection of posts and articles to read:
Vermont
Virginia
- Earlier: Tax bill passed and there’s also a double threat to be aware of. (AffiliateAdvocacy)
- Mixed news from Virginia and one Senator’s response. (PMA)
- Virginia Advertising Tax group started by PMA on Google.
Colorado
- The amended version of the bill is now off to the Governor. (AffiliateAdvocacy)
Nevada
- Nevada also turns its eyes towards the tax. (AffiliateAdvocacy)
- PMA posts instructions on what Nevada affiliate marketers can do. (PMA)
California
- California Internet sales tax moves forward. (AffiliateAdvocacy)
- Senate approves ‘Amazon tax’ as part of budget plan. (The Sacramento Bee)
- Overstock ready to terminate CA affiliates if bill passes. (ABestWeb)
- Monday (2/22) is the Assembly vote date. PMA posts instructions on urgent action. (PMA)
Also, in addition to AffiliateAdvocacy’s Map of Nexus Legislation, Commission Junction has put together and posted their Internet Retail Tax Map.
Finally, in reply to PMA’s call to record videos, three fine affiliate marketers have already voiced out their concern about the affiliate / advertising tax in their self-made videos:
Tricia Meyer (Indiana-based affiliate)
Jamie Birch (Idaho-based OPM)
Joe Sousa (Washington-based affiliate)
None of the states in which these three affiliate marketers are located have registered any advertising tax activity yet, but we all know that with these budget deficits (IN – $1.2B, ID – $562M, WA – $6.0B) it may unfortunately be just a matter of time; so it is best to be proactive (or “acting in anticipation of future problems”) than reactive.