A few days ago I posted a warning that the state of Illinois is about to pass a law that adds sales tax to online commerce if an affiliate in the transaction lives in Illinois.
The resolution has passed both the House and the Senate in the Illinois legislature.
An insider has told me that emailing the governor will do no good. If you did so, nobody’s listening.
Here’s what I want you to do instead: Please write the governor as a public comment on this blog page below. My contact will hand deliver a hard copy of all the responses to a state employee who works for Governor Quinn. You’re welcome to include your business street address. Please write to Governor Quinn in the comment section below.
Explanation of the Bill:
If a person in Kansas buys a teddy bear made in Vermont, and an affiliate in Illinois is involved in the transaction, the state of Illinois will force the Vermont company to pay Illinois sales tax. That means the teddy bear company in Vermont now has to muck around with the byzantine layers of state and local sales tax. Potentially different rate for every city and county.
Of course no company in Vermont would ever be willing to slog through all that red tape, so they’re just going to terminate all their affiliates in Illinois. Which is exactly what Amazon has promised to do. That will kill Illinois’ tax revenue instead of increasing it.
My assistant called Springfield and confirmed the following information about HB3659:
– The Senate voted “Yes” on 1/5/2011
– The House voted “Yes” on 1/6/2011
– The bill is now on it’s way to the Governor and once it reaches his desk he has 60 days to decide whether or not to pass it
The actual verbiage of the bill, Amendment 3 of HB 3659, is here. Please write to Governor Quinn in the comment section below. My contact will hand deliver this to the appropriate influencers.
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
68 Comments on “Illinois will crush affiliate marketing if you don't act now.”
I think you have misunderstood the law as I at first misunderstood it, or I am misunderstanding it now. If a customer in Kansas buys a teddy bear from a company in Vermont thru an Illinois affiliate of the Vermont company, he would not pay Illinois tax. But if the Vermont company sells through Illinois affiliates, the law says he has a presence in Illinois and ANYONE in Illinois who buys from the Vermont company would have to pay the sales tax even if they order direct from the Vermont company not thru an affiliate marketer.
So I was an Amazon affiliate. Amazon cancelled my account. Why? Not because someone in Florida buying a book from Amazon thru my site would have to pay an Illinois tax, but because if Amazon did not cancel all Illinois affiliate accounts, they would have a “presence” in Illinois and would have to charge ALL Illinois customers sales tax even when they do not buy thru an affiliate.
Go to Amazon to buy a book. Probably you will not be charged a sales tax, unless you live in a state where Amazon has a warehouse or their offices. Buy the same book from Barnes and Noble or Borders and you pay sales tax. Why? Because they have stores all over the place including in your state.
Amazon saves its customers a lot of money by not having retail stores and thus not having to collect sales taxes for most states.
I am against the Illinois affiliate tax law and I hope it is ruled unconstitutional.
Dear Governor Quinn,
Please veto HB 3659. I am retired trying to supplement my income as an affiliate marketer and received a notice from Amazon that my account will be terminated should the bill be signed into law.
This will devastate the seniors and the disabled working from home who may not find outside employment or cannot not move to other states.
Please do the right thing, we are hurting, veto HB3659.
Sincerely,
Lina Limares
http://www.tvstandandwallmounts.com
Thanks for giving me the motivation to finally join the Tea Party.
Regards,
John Dziak
Canton, IL
Dear Governor Quinn,
I just completed my website and was approved by Amazon. I am retired and intended on supplementing my income by working from home. This will drastically affect seniors and the handicapped who are also trying to make a living working from their homes. I cannot move to another state, like New Jersey or Indiana.
Please, please veto HB 3659. This will only cripple us further.
Sincerely,
Lina Limares
http://www.tvstandsandwallmounts.com
Dear Governor Quinn,
Please veto HB 3659 and every other job killing tax increase that will chase more businesses and the rich out of the state.
Thanks for giving me the motivation to finally join the Tea Party.
Regards,
John Dziak
Canton, IL
Governor Quinn,
The key to economic growth is encouraging businesses to produce more. Amendment 3 of HB 3659 not only fails to do this, it is the very antithesis of pro-entrepreneur policy. It encourages businesses to produce LESS. Far from creating more affiliate marketing transactions, this bill will literally drive Illinois affiliates *out of business* virtually overnight.
When you want less of something, you tax it.
That has not changed and never will.
Respectfully submitted,
– Jay Cross
Governor Quinn-
Amendment 3 of bill HB 3659 would be devastating to many small businesses and entreprenuers in Illinois.
Small businesses are the chief job growth drivers in the US and the passage of this law will further serve to hurt the image of Illinois as a business friendly state.
Sincerely,
David Cason
The unconstitutional tax collection scheme (Amendment 3 of HB 3659) that sits on your desk waiting to be signed will negatively affect an untold number of Illinois residents and their current income – and ultimately the amount of tax revenue you now collect. Please don’t allow the state of Illinois to charge a sales tax on e-commerce affiliates. All that will do is kill business opportunities in Illinois. We are just a single business that will be forced out of state…what about the thousands of other small businesses that also conduct online transactions with other states.
I implore you, Governor Quinn, to follow the lead of the more than a dozen states that have already rejected this bill. Please veto.
Dear Governor,
Congrats again on your recent performance at the polls.
I have to write you this email to safe thousand of Illinois residents, including myself whose income and sustenance is dependent on income from online affiliate marketing. Please do not sign Amendment 3 of HB 3659 bill into law as it bound to worsen the financial situation of your citizens in the face of current depressed economy. The concept is faulty going by states that have attempted to implement this; and the the timing is wrong given the state of the economy.
I trust your wisdom in this regard.
Regards,
Andy Olisah
Plainfield, IL
Governor Quinn,
I will not insult your intelligence. You received your Juris Doctor degree four years before I was even born. With that said, I’m sure you are intelligent enough to see the failure in identical laws passed in other states. I’m sure you are not naive and actually insist on calling these large companies’ bluff. They have made it clear that they will cross state lines if this bill passes. This goes beyond the lowly affiliate. The people that work at companies like Fat Wallet and CouponCabin, physically located in the state of Illinois, are “actively seeking” to move their companies across the state boarder. Amazon and Overstock have already sent letters to their Illinois affiliates. This is already money lost. People’s lives are changing every day this bill goes un-vetoed. As an elected official, you are obligated to work for the people. Do not forget that the people you work for entrusted you to make an educated decision in their best interest.
Gov. Quinn:
Please veto Amendment 3 of bill HB 3659.
Legislation to encourage the addition of new jobs and the growth of small business is needed. This bill will do neither.
Affiliates will lose income on which they could have paid the new higher income tax.
The state will not realize much sales tax income from internet businesses like Amazon. Amazon has promised to cut off all Illinois affiliates if this bill becomes law.
I urge you, Gov. Quinn, to veto Amendment 3 of bill HB 3659.
Sincerely,
Beatrice Walters
Champaign, IL
Dear Governor Quinn:
Please veto bill HB 3659.
As an affiliate marketer in the state of Illinois, this will effectively kill my business.
Before I heard of this bill I was going to turn my website into an LLC. My dream of doing so are on hold while I await the outcome of your decision, because why become an LLC if I will be unable to continue my site?
As soon as this bill was proposed I received an email from Amazon letting me know that they would sever our working relationship if this bill passes. This is frightening to me because if Amazon, the internet’s largest retailer, will no longer do business with me then what is going to happen with all of the smaller companies? Well, we both know what will happen – they will sever our working relationship as well.
Many other states have vetoed similar bills, Governor. The states that passed the bill have not seen any increase in revenue, and have done little but hurt their small business owners.
I please with you again: Please veto bill HB 3659.
Sincerely,
Lisa Koivu
W. Irving Park Rd.
Chicago, IL
Dear Gov. Quinn,
The ramifications of passing this bill will actually hurt Illinois. Many people including myself will simply relocate to another state if this bill is passed.
Tech savvy people will find away around this. This state is one of the most expensive states to live in and the taxes are already high enough.
Please veto this bill when it comes your way. Otherwise you will be part of passing a bill that hurts many peoples ability to earn a living while ostracizing them form the world of affiliate marketing and internet income.
If those parties involved realized the huge negative impact this would have, they would all be in favor of NOT letting this bill go through.
You were elected by the people to serve the people – myself and many others are asking you to do just that and do the right thing and serve Illinois residents to the best of your ability and make sure this bill is not passed.
A decision of such volatile nature should not be taken lightly and if this bill is passed you can be sure that the end result will be of a negative result for all of Illinois tax payers and hard working citizens.
More taxes is not the answer. This state needs a financial make over.
Please take some time to read up on this and PLEASE Do the right thing and make sure this does not go into affect.
Sincerely,
Nate Kirby
Wheeling, IL
Governor Quinn,
If you hold respect with regard to your dignity, you must veto bill HB 3659.
I have already received notices from several companies that will cancel business relationships with myself, as well as all other affiliate marketers in Illinois, should this bill pass. How can you collect increased tax revenues when there aren’t incomes/revenues to tax?
You will be effectively putting untold numbers of small business persons, like myself, completely out of business. This includes the employees that work for me – can’t tax them if they’re not working, right Mr. Quinn?
I ask you again, please veto HB 3659.
Best Regards,
Brian Hornung
Owner
The Vintage Network
I just read about the bill HB 3659 and it is imperative that you veto this bill. I live in Ohio and your act may spread to other states and you will kill the income of many small businesses that have had to find a way to make it in this hard economy. We have had so much loss throughout these last hard years I simply cannot understand why you would take more away. I am from Illinois and there has just been such a change since I lived there. The state is run down and jobs are fleeing left and right. I just read in the Columbus dispatch that Illinois is dramatically raising taxes to resolve a huge budget crisis that is threatening to cripple state government. What a blunder! Businesses will flee the state crippling families even more. If you raise taxes and stop all Amazon affiliates, what are people going to do? Move away? How will that help? Please veto HB 3659! You are crippling your people.
Dear Governor Quinn,
Please veto Amendment 3 of HB 3659. This legislation will kill jobs and tax revenue in Illinois. Tax increases never solve budget problems because when taxes are increased a dollar spending increases a dollar and 17 cents. The high tax states of California, New Jersey, New York, and now Illinois prove the higher taxes increase the deficit.
Regards,
John Dziak
Canton, Il
Governor Quinn
I run a group called “Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs”, made up of hundreds of Chicago-area small business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals.
I run this group along with my main business of consulting to local business owners because I have a passion for helping the people who are the backbone of our economy and our biggest source of hope for a full recovery.
Many members of my group have contacted me over the past week in various states of fear, frustration and anger over the passing of HB 3659 by the state legislature.
There is no doubt that entire businesses and livelihoods are at risk if you insist on signing this bill into law.
As strongly as I possibly can, I urge you please: Do not sign this bill into law. The short-term and long-term effects of its enactment would be nothing short of disastrous for small business and, in my opinion, therefore the overall economy of our great state.
Thank you for your time, and for doing what’s best for the people of Illinois.
Steve Sipress
Director, “Chicagland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs”
http://www.ChicagolandsSharpestEntrepreneurs.com
Dear Governor Quinn,
Please veto Amendment 3 of HB 3659, the affiliate tax nexus bill (also known as the Amazon law).
A similar law, passed in the state of New York, has resulted in a lawsuit being brought against the state by several large companies.
This Amazon law, passed by the state legislature of California, was vetoed by Arnold Schwarzenneger.
Many Illinois residents are building a stronger economy by promoting products for companies such as Amazon in exchange for commissions. That’s the nutshell explanation of affiliate marketing, a win-win method that I trust will soon be appreciated by many who formerly misunderstood its value.
Please amend the new tax legislation to remove Amendment 3 of HB 3659.
Thank you and best wishes,
Jessica
Dear Governor Quinn,
I do not profess to understand all the ins and outs of Illinois state goverment but I really feel your attention should be on rooting out waste and redundancy in government and not handicapping small business owners.
Part of my business plan for 2011 was being an affiliate marketer for Amazon and now that plan has gone up in smoke.
I urger you to to reconsider to ammend ammendment 3 of HB 3659 if you really want to serve me and my fellow Illinoisans.
Dan Kmiec