[Rehan]

There goes another state...

From http://www.pawtuckettimes.com/content/view/86495/1/ :

... the House Finance Committee passed a 2010 budget Wednesday that closes a deficit of nearly $590 million.

... the budget passed on a 16-1 vote to send the budget to the House floor, where there will likely be an extended debate next Wednesday. ...

... If you shop online, this budget would make you pay more state sales tax than you are currently used to. Any online retailer that contracts with any Rhode Island company to provide goods and services would now have to start charging Rhode Island's 7 percent sales tax at the time of purchase when dealing with an Ocean State customer. Called the “Amazon tax” after the dominant online retailer, the change is expected to bring in about $1.4 million in the current year, but since that figure is little more than a guess, budgeters did not add any increased revenue in the current year's budget. ...

[markwelch]

I assume that Rhode Island affiliates will be getting the same letter that Amazon sent to its North Carolina affiliates today, advising them that their advertising relationship will end upon enactment of this law.

[CCBerries]

Any online retailer that contracts with any Rhode Island company to provide goods and services...

Unless they overstated the reach of the law: this model of tax would have a much farther reach than the other laws, as it looks (based only on the quote) to include the suppliers of raw materials and product from that state. A truly ugly thought... if you get a ream of paper for your company from such a state... you have to collect taxes for sales from customers in that state. Welcome to the plague, you touch someone with it and you catch it..

[mellie]

Actually the proposed legislation is like the NY and Hawaii nexus law.

The retailer has representatives in this State who solicit business or transact
2 business on behalf of the retailer, solicits or transacts business in this State
3 by employees, independent contractors, agents, or other representatives
4 whether the mail order remote sales thus subject to taxation by this State
5 result from or are related in any other way to such the solicitation or
6 transaction of business. A retailer is presumed to be soliciting or transacting
7 business by an independent contractor, agent, or other representative if the
8 retailer enters into an agreement with a resident of this State under which the
9 resident, for a commission or other consideration, directly or indirectly refers
10 potential customers, whether by a link on an Internet Web site or otherwise,
11 to the retailer, if the cumulative gross receipts from sales by the retailer to
12 purchasers in this State who are referred to the retailer by all residents with
13 this type of agreement with the retailer is in excess of ten thousand dollars
14 ($10,000) during the preceding four quarterly periods. This presumption
15 may be rebutted by proof that the resident with whom the retailer has an
16 agreement did not engage in any solicitation in the State on behalf of the
17 seller that would satisfy the nexus requirement of the United States

[mellie]

Sorry above was NC (Can a mod delete that?).

This is RI

“Retailer” defined. — (a) “Retailer” includes:
(1) Every person engaged in the business of making sales at retail, including sales at auction of tangible personal property owned by the person or others.
(2) Every person making sales of tangible personal property through an independent contractor or other representative, if the retailer enters into an agreement with a resident of this state, under which the resident, for a commission or other consideration, directly or indirectly refers potential customers, whether by a link on an Internet website or otherwise, to the retailer, provided the cumulative gross receipts from sales by the retailer 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 five thousand dollars ($5,000) during the preceding four (4) quarterly periods ending on the last day of March, June, September and December. Such retailer shall be presumed to be soliciting business through such independent contractor or other representative, which presumption may be rebutted by proof that the resident with whom the retailer has an agreement did not engage in any solicitation in the state on behalf of the retailer that would satisfy the nexus requirement of the United