Amazon Cuts Off Colo. Affiliates Because of Tax (Internet Sales Tax)

Yahoo.com ^ | 3/9/2010 | Yahoo News

[Dallas59]

DENVER – Amazon.com Inc. cut ties Monday with Colorado online businesses that help it sell products because of a new state law aimed at getting out-of-state, online retailers to collect sales tax.

The move hurts businesses — many of them small, home-based operations — that earn money by using their Web sites and blogs to link customers to online retailers. Colorado has at least 4,200 such businesses, known as affiliates or associates, accounting for about 5,000 jobs, and most of them rely on Amazon to some degree, according to their trade group, the Performance Marketing Association.

The group's executive director, Rebecca Madigan, said some get only about 10 percent of their revenue from Amazon but others are totally reliant on it.

Colorado's largest affiliate, ShopAtHome.com, works with 5,000 online merchants and will be able to recover from the lost business, president Marc Braunstein said. But many "mom and pop" affiliates will suffer.

[Dallas59]

-snip-

Democratic lawmakers, including Gov. Bill Ritter, criticized Amazon for cutting off affiliates, with some calling it "corporate bullying." They said Amazon will still be on the hook to either collect the tax or tell their customers to pay it.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

All this in hopes of gaining a few extra dollars....

They’ll put the hurt on several thousand work at home types, generate tons of bad press, be so obviously anti-small business and what does it get them?

Another opportunity to blame “big internet” firms like Amazon.

[BobbyT]

The comments there are great. Mine is #6.

I’m glad (and surprised, given the timing—just as Americans are realizing they’re being dismissed as ignorant peons) that Yahoo reinstated them.

[pandoraou812]

Interesting.

[Pontiac]

Sales tax is immoral anyway you look at it.

The state is forcing a private party to act as a tax collector as one of the cost of doing business (we won’t mention all of the other ways that the state milks money out of businesses because we don’t have the time and there is no way I could ever think of them all).

Forcing a business to be a tax collector with out pay and with the threat of jail if the owner does not is in my mind outrageous and immoral.

Trying to force an out of state business to do it to me must be unconstitutional.

[raybbr]

From the Colorado State House Democrat website:

Quote of the Session

"In this Capitol, in this House, in this year, we are standing up for Colorado’s families. We are fighting for small businesses and we are working hard to create new jobs. We won't wait around for progress. We won’t wait for Washington. Instead, we are leading the way to recovery!"

- Speaker Terrance Carroll

Uh huh!

[1010RD]

Sorry, but Republicans are different.

[relictele]

The group's executive director, Rebecca Madigan, said some get only about 10 percent of their revenue from Amazon but others are totally reliant on it.

Well Becky, you should canvass your membership. If any one of them votes/voted Democrat, then take your medicine.

[bmwcyle]

The Democrat Party is trying for the biggest bullies in the country lead by a fraud Obama.

[familyop]

Ping.

...confusing on one point.

"Democratic lawmakers, including Gov. Bill Ritter, criticized Amazon for cutting off affiliates, with some calling it 'corporate bullying.' They said Amazon will still be on the hook to either collect the tax or tell their customers to pay it."

I checked Amazon along with other online merchants in other states and didn't see anything about the Colorado tax. Could it be that the tax only applies to merchants with offices in Colorado?

[familyop]

Stock up on items that will make you self-sufficient, so that before long, you won’t have to buy much of anything else.

[Jonah Johansen]

Why don’t the affiliates get a mail box address and a checking account across the border in Wyoming?

[MaxMax]

What? Nobody mentioned it was for the cheeeldren?

[Sarajevo]

Way to go Colorado! People are out of work, and all you can do is put more of them on the street.

[TigersEye]

Why don’t the affiliates get a mail box address and a checking account across the border in Wyoming?

That's a great idea.