Vote No On Bill – SB 3353

Stuart Conover — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:29:37 +0000

Vote No On Bill – SB 3353

I was recently informed from The Performance Marketing Association that there is a bill coming up for vote in Illinois this year that is going to try to enforce an ADVERTISING tax on marketers online. They are basically attempting to impose sales tax on anyone who is advertising a product and sends them to the person selling it.

Basically anyone who has any sort of affiliate tax is going to get hit with sales tax beyond what both the customer and retailer get hit with. Let me get this straight:

I don’t take the money from the customer.
I don’t deliver the product to the customer.
I don’t know who the customer is.
I ADVERTISE the product.

But I’d be having an additional sales tax ADDED to my already taxed income from online referrals? Not only this but anyone I work with out-of-state would likely end contracts in IL as that is exactly what happened in New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island when they imposed the same tax. The entire tax they will try to take out will become non-existent by removing the ability for online marketers to even work with companies looking to advertise their products as they will stop working with anyone in the state to avoid the tax.

SB 3353

Amends the Use Tax Act, the Service Use Tax Act, the Service Occupation Tax Act, and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act. Provides that a retailer or serviceman is considered to be (i) maintaining a place of business in the State and (ii) engaged in selling personal property at retail in the State if the retailer or serviceman solicits business within the State through employees, independent contractors, agents, or other representatives. Provides that a retailer or serviceman is presumed to be soliciting business through an employee, independent contractor, agent, or other representative if the retailer or serviceman enters into an agreement with a resident of this State under which the resident, for a commission or consideration, directly or indirectly refers potential customers, whether by a link on an Internet website or otherwise, to the retailer or serviceman, if the cumulative gross receipts from sales by the retailer or serviceman to customers in the State who are referred to the retailer by all residents with this type of an agreement with the retailer is in excess of $10,000 during the preceding 4 quarterly periods ending on the last day of February, May, August, and November. Provides that the presumption may be rebutted by proof that the resident with whom the retailer or serviceman has an agreement did not engage in any solicitation in the State on behalf of the retailer or serviceman that would satisfy the nexus requirement of the United States Constitution during the 4 quarterly periods in question.

If you are an Illinois resident and are against this bill

Email Your Senators at the addresses below:

Template to e-mail Senators

Subject: I oppose SB 3353 - internet referral nexus bill


Dear Senator [ ]:
I strongly oppose SB 3353, the dealer registration tax bill. If this

bill passes, the state will NOT gain additional taxes, and my small

business income will be devastated in the process.
My income is earned by selling advertising on web pages. I do not sell

on behalf of out-of-state retailers, I advertise. I do not take any

money from consumers, I don’t deliver any products to consumers, I

don’t even know who the consumers are!
[recommended: insert a few words describing your websites, and why

affiliate marketing is important to you – keep it simple!]
If SB 3353 passes, out-of-state retailers for whom I advertise will

terminate our partnerships because my business does not establish

nexus for them. When similar laws were passed in New York, North

Carolina and Rhode Island, over 200 retailers terminated their

affiliate programs, and many have promised to do the same in Illinois.

If these retailers terminate my partnership, my income will be

devastated.
This law would be futile: Illinois will not collect any new sales

taxes, and my business will be destroyed in the process.
I respectfully request you reject SB 3353. It will not earn any

additional tax revenue for Illinois, and it will damage my business in

the process.

Sincerely,

Re-branding In Chicago Is Causing A Stir

Stuart Conover — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:57:54 +0000

Re-branding In Chicago Is Causing A Stir

The Sears Tower’s naming rights, which have been expired since 2003, have recently been purchased by the London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd- who plan on renaming the Sears Tower to “Willis Tower.”

Now Chicago is no stranger to re-branding coming about by changes of ownership. For example in 2005 Macy’s bought out Marshall Fields and finalized converting the stores by 2006. Chicagoans are proud of their city and what is found within its borders. When Macy’s officially moved into the Marshall Field building on State Street, home of the company for years, hundreds of protesters flocked to show their dismay that such a landmark was being re-branded. As of 2007 all of the former Marshall Field’s stores have lost 7-10% in profits with the State Street store losing even more. Now it’s happening again with our greatest landmark.

The Sears Tower was the largest building in the world when built in 1973 and continued to hold this record until either 1998 or 2004 depending how you keep count. It is still the tallest skyscraper in the United States, and the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the World. While over the next decade it will continue to decline in the height categories it has been the view from anyone close to the city that you first saw on the way in. It is a focal point of the city and many people have special memories of it in their heart. One of my friends was proposed to by her husband there. The changing of just the name of such a central point in Chicago is not a form of branding that the city is approving of in the slightest.

An Idea Of Feeling From An Online Petition

A few days ago, shortly after the news- It’s The Sears Tower was created to bring an actual petition to the new owners to not change the name. As of just past 11:17 am this morning there are 13,000 signatures. In just a few days this many people have signed up online so you can imagine how everyone actually feels about this. So what will Willis Group Holdings, Ltd do? The Sears Tower isn’t the same form of market that Marshall Fields would fall into. They won’t be directly losing profit as Macy’s did and be able to claim naming rights over one of the largest buildings in the world. This is a brand change that is something that will causes unhappiness to those that live and work in the city yet at the same time help the company that owns it enough for them to ignore the these requests. By just having the largest skyscraper in the United States named after them as well as with the thought of the next Olympics in Chicago it is an advertising opportunity for the company that may have them ignore annoying the entire populace of the city.

Stuart Conover » Chicago

Vote No On Bill – SB 3353