When I started ReceiptWallet, I setup an Amazon Affiliates link to see if I could make some money on the scanners I recommended. Turns out, this was a smart move as I was making decent money for no work. After I sold ReceiptWallet, I get my links around on this blog and while I don’t make enough money to quit my day job, I make enough to goto dinner a few times a year. I’d rather have the money in my pocket than someone else’s, so I keep the links up.
Unfortunately, Amazon notified California based affiliates today that they’re cutting us off if the state passes a law regarding online commerce. The law is a bit of duplicate regulation as California residents are already required to pay a use tax for goods purchased out of the tax; it appears that the law is putting the burden of collection on a company that doesn’t even have offices in the state. The law argues that affiliates constitute a California presence for Amazon and thus it has to collect taxes.
So us little people get punished because the state can’t enforce the current law on the books. Lovely.