Online retailers are becoming more and more concerned at a concerted effort by various American states to begin charging sales tax on in-state affiliate sales, even in cases where the retailer has no in-state physical presence. This follows a ruling by the NY State Supreme Court in January that dismissed objections to the “Amazon Tax” and is leading to fears that merchants may simply terminate affiliates in the states affected. Linkshare has just produced an informative FAQ on this subject: http://www.linkshare.com/advertisers/ca_state_tax/

The Great Recession is putting enormous pressure on state tax revenues but even so, one would hope that someone in charge was thinking through this stuff.

At a time when many people are losing their jobs, it’s probably not a good idea to disrupt the one business which is perfectly positioned to absorb a lot of that spare productive capacity: affiliate marketing.