Bad news for those of us budget-pinched creators — bloggers, authors, musicians, artists, etc.– trying to tap a bit more revenue by offering links to such online stores as Amazon.com from our own websites.<\/p>\n
Bad news for those of us budget-pinched creators — bloggers, authors, musicians, artists, etc.– trying to tap a bit more revenue by offering links to such online stores as Amazon.com from our own websites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-49","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/11\/spitzer_bows_re_online_sales_t.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":0},"title":"Spitzer bows re online sales tax","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"November 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In a remarkable response to protest from this website (and ok, perhaps some others), New York State governor Elliott Spitzer \"believes that now is not the right time to be increasing sales taxes on New Yorkers\" and \"has directed the Department of Tax and Finance to pull back its interpretation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2247,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/06\/nea-supports-jazz-and-us-arts-nationwide.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":1},"title":"NEA supports jazz and US arts nationwide","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment of the Arts, arguably the most misunderstood and beleaguered doing-good office of the federal gov't (excluding the NEH, EPA, Consumer Financial Bureau, Civil Rights Division of the Justice Dept., and a few others) has issued its 2017 funding report, highlighting that its monies (monies from we US\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Anthony Braxton\"","block_context":{"text":"Anthony Braxton","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/anthony-braxton"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":259,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/10\/soupy_sales_friend_to_jazz.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":2},"title":"Soupy Sales, 1926-2009, friend to jazz","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The silliest pie-in-the-face TV comic of the '50s had trumpeter Clifford Brown with drummer Max Roach on his kiddie show. Soupy Sales loved jazz -- how cool is that?\u00c2\u00a0photo courtesy of Craig Marin, www.Flexitoon.com\u00c2\u00a0-- more pix there \u00c2\u00a0 This featured performance was unusual, but of a piece with Soupy's musical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"Soupy in Sepia.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/assets_c\/2009\/10\/Soupy%20in%20Sepia-thumb-388x400-10914.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2421,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2018\/02\/jazz-projects-with-2018-nea-funding-support.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":3},"title":"Jazz and beyond projects with 2018 NEA funding support","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Given all the noise, the\u00c2\u00a0National Endowment for the Arts' $25 mil for arts, literature and education\u00c2\u00a0announced Feb. 7 may have been overlooked. But these funds and the projects they support, nationwide, should be noted.\u00c2\u00a0From more than $3 million going to initiatives strictly labeled \"Music\" (exclusive of \"Musical Theater\" or \"Opera\")\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Akropolis Reed Quintet\"","block_context":{"text":"Akropolis Reed Quintet","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/akropolis-reed-quintet"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/images-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":192,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/05\/taking_an_outside_chance_on_mu.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":4},"title":"Take an “outside” chance on musical experimentation","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"May 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My column in May's City Arts NY\u00c2\u00a0urges Adam Rudolph's conducted Go: Organic Orchestra improvs and the Mixology Fest (both at Roulette) and the 14th annual Vision Festival as ways to break out of conventions and celebrate spring. (In order to read the column, you have to zoom in on \"Jazz\").\u00c2\u00a0I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2007\/08\/cubistjazz_photo_portraits.html","url_meta":{"origin":49,"position":5},"title":"Cubist-jazz photo portraits","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Lourdes Delgado, photographer of the series \"Jazz in New York: A Community of Visions\", has launched a new line -- or should that be \"cube\"? \"Geographic Portraits,\" collages of large format negatives, with strong reference to the Cubism of Picasso (beloved in her hometown Barcelona) and George Braques. Her first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"Delgado%20Terrason.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/Delgado%20Terrason.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPublishers Lunch<\/a>, an industry newsletter, reports that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has declared<\/a> that an e-commerce site (such as Amazon.com<\/a>) which provides compensation or commission on sales derived from links to an individual’s site is responsible for sales tax on all purchases made through “vendors” or “representatives” with a “physical presence” in the state.
\nThat is: The tax guys say if you belong to an online affiliate program like Amazon’s, and you live in NY state, then you are the “physical presence” rendering the online seller responsible for collecting state sales tax. Apparently, it would be Amazon and the other online stores – not we affiliates — who would be responsible for registering with the state and collecting the taxes. But this could cause web sellers like Amazon to abolish affiliate programs, or re-evaluate what they pay out to members.
\nCurrently, online retailers are excluded from sales tax collection, though online buyers are supposed to declare and pay sales taxes on their state return. (Did you know that? Do you do it?) At the federal level, Congress has upheld the exclusion several times, but according to the website < Icantbelieveitsnotademocracy<\/a> and its blogging tax advisor Maude Newton<\/a>, the state’s “clarification” is the atom bomb blowing such an exemption back to the Stone (pre-Internet) Age.
\nWhat it would mean to me — assuming Amazon dumps the Associate program<\/a> rather than pay these taxes – is the loss of an 80 cent payment if someone buys a copy of my book by linking to Amazon from my site. Since Routledge, my publisher, has ordered such a cautiously small initial stock of Miles, Ornette, Cecil – Jazz Beyond Jazz<\/i> that even selling it out will not cover my tiny, tiny advance, and since Routledge does not guarantee further printings (though I expect in good faith that demand will<\/i> behoove supply), an extra 80 cents per linked sale could be the only other $ I’ll see from my efforts for some time, maybe ever. And that 80 cents compares favorably with my royalty rate, even if my share of book sales do<\/i> ever kick in (once sales return that long-ago spent pittance to my publisher).
\nOf course, I’m far from the only one affected — innumerable entrepreneurial folk have taken advantage of Amazon’s modest inducement to send potential customers its way. I suppose Amazon and\/or other e-commerce sites will pursue their case for exclusion from state sales taxes in court, but that takes time. Meanwhile, will they suspend associate programs rather than dare fines and an extended assessment if they don’t register with Governor Elliot Spitzer’s tax collectors by December 7? Or will online retailers carry on bravely, flouting the state’s announced interpretation of it’s own tax law? My fingers are crossed (which always makes typing hard).
\nAfter all, I haven’t yet seen a check for being an Amazon associate — after three months, I’ve not accrued $15 in “commisions.” With Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza and the other present-giving holidays coming up, my book and selections from its bibliography and discography to recommend, I’d kinda hoped I’d get there, maybe cover holiday card postage, or twine. Instead, here’s the state’s lump of coal in my stocking.<\/p>\n
\n“Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed.” — “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens (1843) <\/p>\n
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