I’m basically gonna steal Rachel’s eloquent (that’s thief-speak for nyah, nyah, nyah) post about what the Illinois legislature is passing in an attempt to squeeze a couple of more nickels from those least able to hire lobbyists, ’cause we all know that that’s what it’s really all about. And here I first insert my starting to be favorite jpg and then Rachel (and one does not generally impact the other…)

I’ve mentioned a number of times that this blog is made possible partially because I receive income from the affiliate links on the site. (For example: If I link to an item on Amazon, and you buy that item through my link, I receive a percentage of your purchase as a commission.)Note by me:  Rachel’s small commission in no way affects the price you pay.

Well, the Illinois Senate today passed Senate Amendment 3 to HB 3659, which basically says that: If a sale at an Internet retailer originates through an affiliate link on an Illinois-based blog or website, that sale will be charged 6.25% Illinois sales tax — regardless of whether the retailer has a physical presence in Illinois. (For example — if and when this bill goes into effect in July: If I link to an item on Amazon, and you buy an item through that link, you pay 6.25% sales tax. If you go directly to Amazon and don’t click through my link? No sales tax.) The bill is now headed to the governor’s office for his signature.

You can read two brief articles on this here and here. In the couple of states that have passed similar laws, large online retailers have simply dropped all of their affiliate programs in that state. I’ve been receiving dire email warnings from all of my major affiliate programs warning of the same thing if this bill becomes law here. For instance, here’s the email I received from Amazon today:

Greetings from the Amazon Associates Program:

We regret to inform you that the Illinois state legislature has passed an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that, if signed by Governor Quinn, would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with Illinois-based Associates. You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Illinois…

Please note that this not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Amazon Associates Program. But if the governor signs this bill, we will need to terminate the participation of all Illinois residents in the Associates Program. After that point, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for sales referred to amazon.com, endless.com and smallparts.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Illinois residents.

The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on Illinois residents like you were explained to the legislature, including Senate and House leadership, as well as to the governor’s staff.

Over a dozen other states have considered essentially identical legislation but have rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.

Governor Quinn’s office may be reached here.

We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and wish you continued success in the future.

Sincerely,

Amazon.com

Me here again.  As I said, I received the same email.  Will this help the state’s fiscal failures?  Nah, as Rachel says, you and Uncle Pete will just click directly to Amazon.  IL won’t see an additional dime of sales revenue, but will certainly lose the income tax revenue generated by those same sales.  Another way you, as online savers, will suffer?  Is it likely that any blogger will be able to devote significant time and energy to searching out the best deals on any site when there’s no payoff?  Well, there goes my .50 from coupons.com.  So unless you can shoot us all next week’s winning lottery numbers, this entire industry is gonna shut down in Illinois

since I own this site for a few more years, the only tried and true method for making money online is porn and I’ve already got the dog butts ….