I reside in North Carolina, tried to sign up as an Amazon affiliate the other day, and discovered I could not because of the "Amazon tax" passed recently by the state legislature. Here are my questions: If I set up a Delaware LLC, could I then sign up that LLC as an Amazon affiliate and get around the NC Amazon tax problem that way? (Since the affiliate would then be considered a Delaware resident, I assume.) Could this create any problems for me: legal, tax or otherwise? As far as I can tell, I would not be avoiding paying taxes myself by doing this. I would just be removing myself from the conflict between NC and Amazon. Thanks.
Yes, you can do that although if you get caught, it may be considered tax evasion. You would have to show that your company wasn't registering out of state just to get around the new tax law. And if you were doing it now, that would be easy to prove that's what you;re doing I would think. You may want to search the forums for "amazon tax" as this has been discussed at some length I believe.
I would contact the NC legislature and tell them how the law has hurt your business without helping the state any. If they will not listen and revoke the law, you may want to run for the state legislature in NC and get this law revoked.
It amazes me that people think that they would care. Stop asking permission and do it. It's perfectly legal for you to incorporate out-of-state.
Gotta admit that I agree with that statement. I've tried contacting my old rep many times about a problem with old government student loans being handled incorrectly and never got a reply. I think the question that the poster raises about Amazon letting them get away with it is a valid one. Why go through all of the trouble setting up an LLC when it may be for moot.
It's my understanding that Amazon invited Associates from Hawaii or some other state that faced the exact tax issue back, once the state stopped pursuing their tax collection from affiliates. thanks, PuReWebDev