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Taxes

I found myself writing quite a bit about taxes Thursday. First up: Amazon is upset about a House tax proposal:

RALEIGH — Kayla Fay opened an e-mail from Amazon.com on Wednesday warning about a pending change to state tax law and could think only one thing.

“They’re killing me, they’re killing my business,” said Fay, who runs a number of Web sites, including www.goaskmom.com, which provides information for parents of children with attention deficit problems.

Besides providing free content, Fay’s Web site promotes books and other items that are sold by Amazon.com. Every time someone clicks through a link on her Web site and buys from Amazon, Fay gets a cut of the sale.

Amazon warned affiliates like Fay on Wednesday that they would cut North Carolina residents out of the program if a pending change in the state’s sales tax code becomes law. That change, outlined in the House version of the budget, would require Amazon to collect taxes on items bought through its Tar Heel affiliates.

For many people, their cut from Amazon is small potatoes, maybe a couple of hundred dollars per year. But Fay is among those who have built a business by way of affiliate marketing. Payments from Amazon and another similar vendor make up the bulk of the $40,000 she clears from her business every year.

Click here for the whole story.

There is organized push-back in North Carolina already, which is probably exactly what Amazon was hoping for. Essentially, it’s free lobbying.

If you’re on twitter, you can find this whole thing being discussed by people using the #ncaffiliatetax hash tag.

If that last sentence means nothing to you, you might want to check out this blog by one of the organizers of the push back.

Next up, Gov. Bev Perdue has told lawmakers she wants them to raise $1.5 billion in new taxes. That news came as she made clear her priorities in the education arena:

Perdue told gatherings of teachers in Greensboro and Raleigh on Wednesday that lawmakers should raise taxes to protect public school classrooms from budget cuts.

“It’s been hard for me to watch the General Assembly work to try to close this enormous gap ... to make sure the state works for all you all,” Perdue said at Smith.

In Raleigh, she called the idea of adding two children per classroom next year and three children per classroom the year after “totally unacceptable.” She also called on lawmakers, who began negotiating a final budget deal this week, to avoid cuts to teacher pay and classroom supplies such as books.

“I have talked to them about the money that is necessary to keep North Carolina’s public schools whole and let us have an economic development future,” Perdue told reporters.

Click here for the whole story.

Click here for audio from a press avail Perdue did Wednesday in Raleigh.

And below are some pictures from the rally in Greensboro.