Advertising Tax Talk
Baltimore, MD – July 9, 2009
Shawn Collins, Co-Founder, Affiliate Summit
Missy Ward, Co-Founder, Affiliate Summit

Don’t Ignore It – You’re Affected
 Laws force retailers with affiliates in states to collect sales tax
 Retailers terminating affiliates to avoid tax
 You could be blacklisted from key affiliate programs

Advertising Tax History in NY
 Nov 07 – Gov. Spitzer proposed tax;
huge backlash
 Feb 08 – Gov. Spitzer brought it up
again
 Mar 08 – Gov Patterson champions the
tax
 May 08 – Amazon and Overstock filed
law suit in State Supreme Court in
Manhattan
 Jun 08 – NY advertising tax kicks in
 Jan 09 – NY court upholds law in
response to Amazon and Overstock
lawsuit

Quill Corp. v. North Dakota
 Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S.
298 (1992) is a Supreme Court of the
United States case concerning use tax.
Quill Corporation is an office supply
retailer. Quill had no physical presence
in North Dakota (neither a sales force,
nor a retail outlet), however it did have a
licensed computer software program that
some of its North Dakota customers
used to check Quill's current inventories
and place orders directly. North Dakota
attempted to impose a use tax on Quill,
which was struck down by the Supreme
Court.
Wikipedia

Take Action
 Organize with other affiliates in your state
 Identify your state representatives (state government, not
federal)
 Customize form letters to your state representatives
 Try to meet your state representatives
 Talking points
 Who you are, where you live, your ties to the community.
 Explain your business – that you are a marketer and earn money through
Internet advertising.
 Provide an estimate (if possible) of the revenue impact on your business of
out-of-state merchants chose to end their affiliate programs.
 Discuss impact of New York’s advertising tax on affiliates.
 Request support from your state representatives to oppose the bill.
 Contact the media with your story

Current Activity
 CA Another bill pending (ABX3 19 and SBX3 17)
 CT Back to committee for further study; ongoing budget talks
 HI Vetoed by Governor, legislators may override
 MD Did not pass committee; will be active again next session
 MN Part of Senate/House budget which was broad vetoed
 NC North Carolina Internet Tax legislation part of pending budget
 NY New York Internet tax in effect since June 2008
 RI Rhode Island Internet tax in effect
 TN HB1947 and SB1741 in committee
Source: Affiliate Voice, 7/3/09

Advertising Tax Resources
 Affiliate Voice - http://affiliatevoice.com/
 Performance Marketing Alliance -
http://www.performancemarketingalliance.com/
 Fight Against the #AdvertisingTax -
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=77931506576
 Tax Law Discussions on ABW -
http://forum.abestweb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=543
 Video summary - http://www.affiliatetax.com/

Contact Shawn Collins
 shawn@affiliatesummit.com
 Twitter: @affiliatetip
 AIM: affiliatetip
 Blog: http://blog.affiliatetip.com
 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/affiliatetip
 LinkedIn: http://www.shawnonlinkedin.com

Contact Missy Ward
 missyward@affiliatesummit.com
 Twitter: @missyward
 AIM: MsMissyWard
 Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/MissyWard
 LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/missyward
 Personal Blog:
http://www.MissyWard.com

Affiliate Summit East 2009
 Who: Thousands of affiliate marketers
 What: The premier affiliate marketing
conference
 When: August 9-11
 Where: Hilton New York
 Why: Learn and network
Details at www.AffiliateSummit.com