Melville House Books

Amazon.com has lived up to its threat: It’s pulled the plug on dealing with any websites from North Carolina that make referrals to Amazon as part of the “Associates program” because it looks as if the state’s legislature is about to pass a law that would obligate the company to collect taxes on such so-called “click-through” transactions.

According to an Associated Press wire story by Gary D. Robertson, Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said, “We felt that we had to take this step and it’s unfortunate. But we feel like we have little choice.”

But lawmakers are feeling pressure from brick and mortar retailers who have to collect taxes and claim online retailers therefore have an unfair advantage. Then, too, states caught in the financial crisis look to receive considerable revenues from such taxes — “North Carolina expects to collect an additional $13.2 million in the coming fiscal year,” says the AP report.

Meanwhile, Amazon may be fighting an irreversible trend: As per this earlier MobyLives report, other state legislatures are contemplating similar laws, and as the AP report notes, one already passed, in New York State — where Amazon sued, and lost.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.