Karen and I had the chance to chat with Brian Littleton of Shareasale on a few topics. Most importantly, we spent some time chatting about the New York Affiliate Tax issues.
Some of the main points:
Sales totals from New York Affiliates that require merchants to report and pay tax
Fact that orders need to be shipped to New York addresses to qualify and the challenge this present to affiliate networks
Some of the steps that Shareasale has taken to familitate merchant compliance without compromising affiliate privacy
Some good advice from Brian on where to get guidance on this. Merchants should consult with their accountant and someone familiar with New York law if New York affiliates are a substantial piece of the their mix or may be in the future to come up with a sound policy
We reviewed some of the actions that we’ve been seeing merchants take due to the law including Overstock and Amazon filing suit.
Affiliate shock on receiving action notices from merchants making compliance decisions.
We also chatted a bit on what is happening at Shareasale (technical innovation) and chatted about Brian’s tendancy to end up at a piano at industry events and availability of piano bars near the Affiliate Summit hotel.