I just came across some good news for affiliates in California, Advertising Tax Vetoed from the CA Budget, in a post on Jangro.com.
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the advertising tax in California, and Overstock.com announced that they will not be dropping California afiliates.
California lawmakers proposed a tax on affiliate advertising and sent legislation to the Governor, but as promised he vetoed it because we cannot solve our budget deficit by raising taxes and driving businesses out of the state.
Overstock.com estimates its internet affiliate advertisers in California create millions of dollars in revenue.
As I stated in an article at Internet Retailer earlier today (Overstock ends affiliate agreements in four states over sales tax rules), states see this as incremental revenue for them, and they aren’t realizing that affiliates that get fired from affiliate programs will pay less income tax and potentially burden the state with unemployment benefits.
It’s great to see that Governor Schwarzenegger saw the big picture.
More details in a press release from the Office of the Governor.