Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate: Your Government SucksQuerido asociado de Amazon con base en Colorado: Tu gobierno apesta
By: Keith
I‘m astounded at the absolute incompetence of our politicians. I got this letter today from Amazon letting me know that my affiliate account has been closed. Thanks to our completely idiotic Governor (Ritter) and the General Assembly (who passed this bill, HB 10-1193) it doesn’t look like there’s much hope for affiliates here in Colorado. So, thanks, you bunch of douches in Denver. I’m not surprised they think the solution to unemployment and low tax revenue is more taxes – which people can’t pay if they can’t make money. Still, it’s disheartening to know that politicians really are as stupid as people say they are. I’m not typically a political person, but sometimes politicians do things that are so blatantly retarded that they just deserve to be run out of town.
Here is the letter in question:
Dear Colorado-based Amazon Associate:
We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to inform you that the Colorado government recently enacted a law to impose sales tax regulations on online retailers. The regulations are burdensome and no other state has similar rules. The new regulations do not require online retailers to collect sales tax. Instead, they are clearly intended to increase the compliance burden to a point where online retailers will be induced to “voluntarily” collect Colorado sales tax — a course we won’t take.
We and many others strongly opposed this legislation, known as HB 10-1193, but it was enacted anyway. Regrettably, as a result of the new law, we have decided to stop advertising through Associates based in Colorado. We plan to continue to sell to Colorado residents, however, and will advertise through other channels, including through Associates based in other states.
There is a right way for Colorado to pursue its revenue goals, but this new law is a wrong way. As we repeatedly communicated to Colorado legislators, including those who sponsored and supported the new law, we are not opposed to collecting sales tax within a constitutionally-permissible system applied even-handedly. The US Supreme Court has defined what would be constitutional, and if Colorado would repeal the current law or follow the constitutional approach to collection, we would welcome the opportunity to reinstate Colorado-based Associates.
You may express your views of Colorado’s new law to members of the General Assembly and to Governor Ritter, who signed the bill.
Your Associates account has been closed as of March 8, 2010, and we will no longer pay advertising fees for customers you refer to Amazon.com after that date. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to March 8, 2010, will be processed and paid in accordance with our regular payment schedule. Based on your account closure date of March 8, any final payments will be paid by May 31, 2010.
We have enjoyed working with you and other Colorado-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you all the best in your future.
Best Regards,
The Amazon Associates Team
Me encuentro estupefacto debido a la completa incompetencia de nuestros políticos. Hoy recibí ésta carta de Amazon haciéndome saber que mi cuenta de afiliado ha sido cerrada. Gracias a la completa imbecilidad de nuestro gobernador (Ritter) y de la Asamblea General (quien pasó ésta ley, HB 10-1193) parece no haber muchas esperanzas para los afiliados residiendo en el Estado de Colorado. Así que, gracias, bola de estúpidos en Denver. No me sorprende que ellos crean que la solución al desempleo y pocas ganancias en los impuestos sea el aumentar más impuestos – los cuales no pueden ser pagados por las personas que no pueden ganar dinero. Aún así, es desalentador saber que los políticos son tan estúpidos como la gente lo creía. Yo típicamente no soy una persona de mucha política, pero algunas veces los políticos hacen cosas que son tan absolutamente retardadas que simplemente merecen ser corridos del pueblo.
Esta es la carta en cuestión:
Querido asociado de Amazon con base en Colorado:
Estamos escribiendo desde el Programa de Asociados de Amazon para informarle que el gobierno de Colorado recientemente aprobó una ley que impone reglamentos de impuestos de venta para los comerciantes de Internet. Estos reglamentos son gravosos y ningún otro Estado tiene reglamentos similares. Los nuevos reglamentos no requieren que los comerciantes colecten impuestos de venta por Internet. En su lugar, estos claramente están diseñados a incrementar el gravamen de conformidad hasta el punto en el que los comerciantes serán inducidos a “voluntariamente” recoger impuestos de venta de Colorado – un curso que nosotros no tomaremos.
Nosotros y muchos otros nos oponemos fuertemente a esta legislación, conocida como HB 10-1193, pero ha sido promulgada de todas maneras. Lamentablemente, como resultado de esta nueva ley, hemos decidido detener la publicidad a través de nuestros Asociados en el estado de Colorado. Sin embargo, planeamos seguir vendiendo a residentes de Colorado, y haremos publicidad por otros medios, incluyendo Asociados residiendo en otros Estados.
Existe una manera correcta para que Colorado persiga sus metas económicas, pero esta nueva ley es la manera incorrecta. Como lo hemos comunicado repetidamente a los legisladores de Colorado, incluyendo aquellos que patrocinaron y apoyaron la nueva ley, nosotros no nos oponemos a la colección de impuestos mientras sea dentro de un sistema constitucional-permisible aplicado imparcialmente. La Suprema Corte de los Estados Unidos ha definido lo que es considerado constitucional, y si Colorado revocara la ley actual o siguiera el enfoque constitucional a la colección, nosotros acogeríamos la oportunidad de restablecer a nuestros asociados basados en Colorado.
Usted puede expresar sus puntos de vista con respecto a la nueva ley de Colorado a los miembros de la Asamblea General y al Gobernador Ritter, quienes firmaron la ley.
Su cuenta de Asociado ha sido cerrada efectivamente con fecha 8 de Marzo del 2010, y ya no pagaremos las tarifas de publicidad por clientes que usted refiera a Amazon.com después de esta fecha. Por favor, tenga por seguro que todas las publicidades calificadas ganadas antes del 8 de Marzo del 2010 serán procesadas y pagadas de acuerdo con nuestro calendario de pago. Basado en su fecha de cierre del 8 de Marzo, cualquier pago final será completado para Mayo 31 del 2010.
Hemos disfrutado trabajando con usted y otros participantes basados en Colorado del programa de Asociados de Amazon, y le deseamos lo mejor para el futuro.
Cordiales saludos,
El Grupo de Asociados de Amazon
North Carolina did the same thing to us on my football blog. My partner in that venture lives in NY, so I had to reopen the account using his address. So stupid.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner =-.
PJ: I’m thinking of how to approach this one. Because it’s not just Amazon. I’ve heard that CJ and others will follow. It’s so frustrating. Not like I was getting rich or anything, but jeez, it was something.
That bites. Sorry, Keith.
we see eye to eye on this one, buddy. that completely sucks.
.-= john ´s last blog ..The Driving Force =-.
John: Thanks for the sympathy, man! It’s already hard enough to make money at blogging, but the government seems determined to put a halt to everything. They really do suck.
Did you know?……….
1) That this bill only passed by one vote in the state House and that there were only 4 dissenting Democrats.
2) That this affects not only associates connected to Amazon, but also associates connected to any other company (like Overstock.com) that decide to take the same action in response to the new law that Amazon did?
3) That other state governments will eventually follow suit. State governments are so desperate to raise money any way they can (instead of looking first to cut costs) that I’m afraid this kind of thing will continue.
4) Colorado isn’t the first state to do this because other states have already enacted similar laws. According to Denver CBS4, New York and North Carolina “have passed (or are close to passing) similar laws. In both cases, Amazon ended its affiliate programs in those states.”
5) Governor Ritter responded in an interview with Denver CBS4 that he was saddened that Amazon has responded in this way. Well, I’m saddened that he signed the darn legislation in the first place because it won’t make any difference to the budget deficit in Colorado. They shouldn’t have gotten the state into this trouble in the first place and secondly, they should be making cuts in spending instead. I have emailed my opinion to each of the legislators as well as the Governor. I would suggest that everyone do the same until their darn server breaks down, they have to fix it and the state goes further in debt ! Maybe then it might just sink in that they made a wrong decision.
Rob: Thanks so much for the detailed run-down of the issue here! I did not know that it passed so narrowly. But, it doesn’t surprise me the democrats did it. Seems they think the only way to increase tax revenue is to put people out of business. What’s even more sad is that there are enough voters who agree with that retarded thinking to vote them into office. Here’s a novel idea for them: instead of raising taxes, how about implementing a state austerity program (like Greece) that requires them to spend less? They’d never dream of spending less though because they won’t be satisfied until everyone is poor (but at least equal).
I think that about every Amazon affiliate in Colorado wrote about this on their blogs yesterday… Amazon has a lawsuit going with the state of New York… In Rhode Island, the state actually lost tax revenue and income tax revenue from affiliates… Now they have a bill in their legislature to repeal their Amazon tax law so they can start making up for the revenue loss that their bill caused… Colorado should quickly follow RI’s example before this bill adds to their budget deficit problems…
Jim: It doesn’t surprise me. I got over 100 views of this article alone yesterday. It was a really hot topic. I sincerely hope they come to their already dimmed senses and repeal this thing. Thanks for the info and input
California is soon to follow. We need a political system much like the jury one where you are drafted to “serve”. We may actually get a few decent people that have lived in the trenches instead of the privileged lot that are not affected by their reckless decisions.
Mom: That would be the ideal situation, where people consider government a duty rather than a source of personal financial enrichment. People like us don’t get into politics because It takes butt loads of money and a network we just don’t have.
I’m sorry but it is not the fault of the state legislature. Its Amazon’s decision to end its affiliate programs. Its high stakes poker they are playing and using small affiliates as pawns in their game. In Hawaii when similar legislation was considered last year and passed by the legislature, Amazon unilaterally ended their affiliate program before the governor even acted on the bill. They are not even doing it in a way that respects you and what you have done as their partner. They see tax collection as a bigger threat to their profits then any loss of affiliate relations which is small change in the scheme of things and lets face it Amazon doesn’t need affiliate relations as much as it used to, so expect regardless of sales tax legislation to see these programs reduced in future years. It has the largest share of the online retail market then any online company and name recognition is incredibly strong.
Amazon currently collects sales tax in several states including their corp headquarters in Washington state without any problem. The letter from Amazon states that they support constitutional approaches to collecting state sales tax owed and the states should abandon the state legislation approach. The facts don’t support that statement . Amazon has strongly opposed streamlined sales tax federal legislation for years and according to their lobby disclosure forms they have spent millions against such a constitutional approach. That federal legislation would actually require states to pay retailers to offset the cost of collection.
Amazon’s decision to end affiliate programs is their own decision they are making as a company and that is where the fault belongs.
Rich: I’m sorry, but it IS the fault of the state legislature. Amazon wants to make money and I don’t blame them. The state just wants to dip into more pockets because they can’t control their own spending. I don’t blame Amazon in the least, they aren’t the ones doing the pick pocketing. You’re saying that people deserve to get mugged if they have money. It’s not the fault of the mugger because he needed money and the victim had it. Sure the state needs money, they could always spend less, right? That’s unthinkable, I know. And since it’s the state you don’t see it as robbery, even though that’s exactly what it is. They can’t control their spending so they just find people to loot from. Simple as that. Amazon’s ending of the affiliate program is a direct result of them being robbed by the state (that’s what taxes are after all). We all accept being robbed to some extent, but at some point it’s got to stop; we aren’t endless wells for the government to tap. Amazon is engaging in a political game with the state in an attempt to get the state to repeal the law. I’d do the same thing, and I don’t blame amazon even a little.
Welcome to wonderful TAXorado
This is a complicated issue brought on by the current economic climate. There is no doubt going to be a national internet sales tax assessed at some point in the future. Hopefully it will be disbursed back to the states.
The small businesses like us are stuck in the middle of corporate clout (after years of witnessing the gross waste and ineptitude in corporate america I am starting to loathe corporate america as well) and an inept, inefficient, ineffective government that continues to erode our constitutional rights.
Colorado is already underwater with the bill given what it probably cost to research and pass and the loss of income tax revenue from those that would have income from affiliate programs. They will likely get a fraction of the sales tax revenue they think they will.
I think whether other companies follow Amazon will depend upon whether or not the business need the affiliates for marketing purposes. But just think of all the businesses that this impacts. Colorado is likely to be blacklisted from most just to be conservative.
The government is ignorant if they think that corporations are going to build special assessment, reporting and remitting systems to appease just Colorado. What happened is exactly what they were warned would happen.
As to the consumers self reporting use tax on untaxed purchases from out of state retailers with a 10% penalty for failure to do so? {snort} Say I spend $1000 a year on line. Estimate the tax for my jurisdiction at 4%. Taxes would be $40, My fine for not paying would be $4. Fine. I’ll pay the state the $4 fine to do my bookkeeping for me so I don’t have to keep track of my untaxed purchases myself. Sound like a revenue generating law to you? This was unquestionably asinine on part of Colorado government. This is an issue that needs to be addressed on a national level just to keep it administratively feasible. But governments never go so far as to research administration, execution and maintenance costs of the crappy programs they come up with. Cash for Clunkers? Bank bailouts? more of the same.
Robyn: I couldn’t say it better if I tried. Governments think in terms of cash in and cash out, but they don’t calculate tertiary costs. Bad bills like this get passed all the time because we have elected officials who have no grasp of economics and business.
Oh yeah. And this was SO convenient. I was IMMEDIATELY emailing my colorado representatives and campaigning for repeal as soon as I got this email. I was furious. Tried to email Ritter. Of course, his email was not functioning on the 8th. Don’t know if it is now or not. I doubt it was a coincidence. I bet they pulled the plug intentionally to avoid dealing with the backlash. Cowards.
AMEN!!! I don’t know what business school these putzes attended to prepare them to adequately assess the crap they pass. I doubt there was any and if there was it was sorely deficient training. This applies to national and state governments. They should have to pass a test. You have to pass one to drive a car but apparently proving you have the training and ability to run a government isn’t required. Ironic, isn’t it? I’ve considered getting involved with local and state government just so I can be there in person to grill them all on the implications of what they are proposing and call them ignorant to their face.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/OpposeHB1193
Here is a link to a website to sign a petition in opposition to this bill. Please pass it along and take action. If Linkshare and Commission Junction and Clickbank get on board with this, anyone doing affiliate marketing could be hurting in a big way. Diversification won’t help.
Thank you for the link, Robyn. That a useful one for anybody looking to take action!
Repeal obviously will be a lot cheaper and quicker than a legal challenge. Perhaps the assembly will come to its collective senses in the next day or two. Denver News 4 covering this issue at 6PM.
I hear about that. Hopefully your state will change their mind soon. I’m glad Oregon isn’t like that. We don’t even have a sales tax. People are anti-tax around here, which causes all sorts of budget problems for the state.
.-= Daddy Forever´s last blog ..Toys of the Year =-.
I’m in the same boat Keith. This State has gone to total crap! To many closed minded thinkers and crooks are in charge around here. The lack of pride, honor and integrity in this state disgusts me. My core beliefs and perceptions of how this state would be from when I was younger has been destroyed by spineless choices made by those in charge over the years. I’m a convicted felon who is repulsed by some of the deals and things I’ve seen over the years around here. I grew up around men who were respected for their trades, where it was a privilege to work in this beautiful state. Use to be able to find jobs daily that paid atleast $15-$20 bucks an hour. But now, it’s not what you know but who you know to get anything from this state. It makes no sense to see illegal immigrants living better off than native sons of this state and country. Our courts and prison systems are the biggest scam of them all. They tax all of you to house each inmate, at the same time when the inmate is released he is charged the same amount or beyond. The state of Colorado will intercept your taxes for the rest of your life if you are a convicted of a felony in this state. Maybe thats fair or about as fair as the recent winners at our casinos that got their winnings basicly taken away because of “machine malfunctions”. Bottom line, there are way to many scum bags getting away with whatever they can in this state and nobody is doing anything about it. Cowards.
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