A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I’ve been doing affiliate marketing for probably a couple of years now. I have made very little from it, but only because I never really got into it. Lately, though, I’ve been considering ramping up my efforts to get some passive income coming in. But if the North Carolina government has anything to do with it, I guess it won’t be happening.

I just got an email from the Amazon Associates program stating that the General Assembly is trying to enact legislation that would force affiliates to collect sales tax on sales to residents of North Carolina. Apparently, it’s pretty much already decided that they’re going to do it. And guess what that means? Most merchants will drop North Carolina affiliates because it will be too expensive and too much trouble to work with them. Amazon has already stated that it will do so.

This is the first I’ve heard of such legislation. But apparently it’s already been enacted in New York, and several other states are considering similar laws. I just don’t get it. Do they not see that they’re not going to make any money from this? Instead of collecting sales tax on more sales, the states that do this will be doing nothing more than taking money out of the pockets of their residents. And that’s money that would have most likely been spent at least in part in that state. So essentially, they’re shooting themselves in the foot.

Quite frankly, I’ve come to expect crap like this from both the state and federal government. But that doesn’t make it any more palatable. If you want to learn more, visit the Performance Marketing Alliance’s website.