If this comes off as a complete rant, so be it. I’m upset. I’m angry. Mostly, just when you thought elected public officials couldn’t get any worse, they do this. And I bet you if you look at their resumes, they were responsible for the construction of this child playground slide.

North Carolina Lawmakers Creation

What am I upset about? Lawmakers in North Carolina are following the lead of those in New York and Rhode Island by instituting an affiliate tax or otherwise known as the “Amazon Tax”. What is it? Basically, if you are an affiliate, the merchant has to collect sales tax on the sale and submit it to the state where you are a resident. Mind you, not where the purchaser of the product lives, but you, as the affiliate. If that sounds stupid and idiotic, you’d be right.

Now, if you were the merchant, what would you do? Would you collect the sales taxes and cause extra burdens to be on your company? I wouldn’t either. The easier solution? Terminate the relationship with every affiliate in those states. And now, it is happening in my home state of North Carolina. I have already had seven affiliate relationships terminated which account for over 40% of our revenues. That’s significant – especially in this economy.

I know I will find a solution, even if it means moving my company out of this state. But while finding a solution for my business is my chief concern, I am also concerned that states tend to be copycats and this can soon spread to all states. If you’re an affiliate, this can literally crush your business overnight.

The bill goes before the governor on July 15th. The best way to stop this spread of “idiot politics” is to stop it from being passed in North Carolina. If it fails, other states may drop interest in the tax.

What can you do?

Two things:

1) Sign this online petition. At the time of this writing there were 832 signers. We need a lot more to get their attention.

2) Even if you are NOT a resident of North Carolina, you can fill out this form to be delivered to the governor’s office. On the drop down option for the Subject, choose Taxes & Revenue. Be direct, to the point, but most of all professional.

Forward this post to as many people as you can. I didn’t take this to seriously last month when it was discussed, but now I face reality by having my income severely reduced. Take a few minutes of your day to support this to avoid going through what I am right now.