Amazon Associates Program Dropped in Illinois

March 11 2011

We regret that our Amazon Associate status will end as of April 15 2011, due to legislative action by our Illinois state government. This means that our links to the reviewed books in our "Resource Links" and "BioFables" series will no longer be valid after April 15. We will try to update those links before the deadline to avoid your seeing a "page not found" error message.

As you may know, Amazon Associates receive a small commission on purchases made directly by clicking on an Associate's link; while commission payments have NO effect on the purchase price, they allowed our readers an indirect way to help support this free portal. An excerpt of Amazon's recent e-mail to us follows.


"For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of Illinois residents. Unfortunately, a new state tax law signed by Governor Quinn compels us to terminate this program for Illinois-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers - including but not limited to those referred by Illinois-based affiliates like you - even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We had opposed this new tax law because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive.  It was supported by national retailing chains, most of which are based outside Illinois, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue.  We deeply regret that its enactment forces this action.


As a result of the new law, contracts with all Illinois affiliates of the Amazon Associates Program will be terminated and those Illinois residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com ..."
 
Category: Open to Debate
Filed under: Government/Legislation, Taxation