If you are live in Florida and consider yourself:

• an affiliate marketer
• a blogger or publisher that uses affiliate links in their posts
• a merchant with an affiliate program
• a network that runs affiliate offers

YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NOW.

There is an “Affiliate Nexus” Tax in Committee in the Senate, in Florida currently. Unfortunately, this type of law/bill is extremely damaging to bloggers and affiliates especially – as if passed, you would likely be declined from a lot of programs automatically.

The law essentially attempts to classify you as more of an “employee” of the retailers you blog for / advertise for – thus creating an official “nexus” (kinda like a homebase) for those retailers. That nexus gives the State of Florida the right to force that retailer to collect sales tax on purchases.

The bills don't work because out-of-State retailers just kill their Affiliate Programs in affected States to remove the nexus.

This – is bad for ALL OF US!!

While I do not want to publicly discuss our game plan to fight this, I need you to immediately join the PMA Coalition in Florida on Facebook so that we can provide you with the information that you need and steps you can take to ensure that this legislation does not get passed in our state.

All questions are welcome in that group.

Join the PMA Coalition in Florida on Facebook

SB202 UPDATE 3/26/14

Hey gang – I just received an update on SB202 and it's great news.

Updates to the history of this bill as of 3/26/14:

• Withdrawn from Commerce and Tourism; Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance and Tax; Appropriations; Rules
• Withdrawn from further consideration

Now — that doesn't mean we're in the clear. It is possible that new legislation may be in the works, so we'll be following it very closely.

A giant thank you goes out to each of you that took the time to write, email, fax and call your senators and the Committee members about this Bill. You deserve a round of applause for helping to have the voices of affiliate marketers heard.

To those of you who did not take action…Why? Was there something we could have done differently that would have helped you more? I want to make it as easy as possible for you (while still remaining effective) for the next time.

And sadly, there will likely be a next time as this “nexus” language keeps on popping up, whack-a-mole style in all sorts of Bills as states look to figure out ways to bring in more revenue. Additionally, 2014 is shaping up to be an interesting year for affiliate marketing with Do-Not-Track, Consumer Privacy and FTC Compliance legislation also on the table.

My advice to all of you is to join the Performance Marketing Association, as they will be working diligently to provide leadership and guidance to protect against the unconstitutional laws that threaten our industry. Their memberships start at $149/yr. http://thepma.org/join/

Questions?

Here's the history on SB202: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2014/0202

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Missy Ward

Co-Founder & President at Affiliate Summit, Inc.

Missy Ward has been in affiliate marketing since 1999. She is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Affiliate Summit, FeedFront Magazine, GeekCast.fm, Founder of AffiliateMarketersGiveBack.com and manages many of her own affiliate sites.

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