Although I blog every week about pop culture topics and other issues that interest me, my primary focus with my company is promoting authors.
I love reading and working with creative people.   Yesterday I was surprised to hear Amazon’s Associate Program will no longer be available to residents of Minnesota.
The Associate program is a source of supplemental income for bloggers and web site owners.  They advertise books and other products sold by Amazon.  The products are related to the content of the web site.  It’s a program many authors use.
As of June 30, Minnesotans will no longer have access to the program.
Why?  Amazon asserts they are opposed to being required to collect sales taxes from Minnesota residents.
What is shocking about this is America’s highest court, the United States Supreme Court found in Quill v. North Dakota that companies are only required to collect sales tax in the states where they maintain a physical domicile.  Amazon does not have any physical locations in Minnesota.
As a result, by implementing the online sales tax/ solicitor nexus law, the state is circumventing the Supreme Court to obtain more money for the state.
Hopefully this situation will be resolved.