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see you later, I'm gone
Industry Role:
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 14,058
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Ok, yesterday I asked Amazon myself whether this would be acceptable or not. Btw, I asked this before anyone started saying to send the stuff to Amazon as Spam. When you were dodging the question as to whether you had asked Amazon directly whether it was acceptable or not I decided to ask them myself. So, this was not an attempt to fuck with you or your biz. It was an attempt to get a legitimate answer.
What I posed to them was:
Quote:
Hello, In reference to your recent decisions regarding california associates. Someone is offering them a solution where they can reside in California but incorporate elsewhere. The person offering this states that this is acceptable to Amazon and I would like clarification as to whether that approach is acceptable to you or not before I go any further in setting up an associate account.
Thank you for your prompt response.
Here is the verbiage from his offer:
One Time Special Deal Offer For Banned Amazon Affiliates!
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OK, first of all, the solution I am offering to banned Amazon affiliates is completely legal, does NOT involve any sort of tax evasion and is indeed acceptable to Amazon.
Amazon has banned affiliates in several states, most recently, California. Remember this part, the affiliates located in California were the business entities, whether DBAs, individuals or corporations but at any rate, ALL business entities acting as Amazon affiliates physically located IN California have been banned.
There is nothing in the ban which precludes a California resident from owning or operating a business entity located in a DIFFERENT state in which Amazon has not banned affiliates. There is NO law which precludes a California resident from owning or operating a business in another state. Were there such a law, Californians would be prohibited from owning STOCK in out-of-state corporations, which they clearly are not.
The fact that an individual may own or work for an out-of-state entity in no way obligates that business entity for California sales tax. If such were the case, stockholders in GM who reside in California would be liable for sales tax for GM cars sold in Nevada, which they obviously are not.
Remember, it is quite legal for a California resident to own and operate a business located in another state.
Since California residents are not domiciled in Kansas; that is, they live in California, the best way to do business in Kansas is through a Kansas corporation, which has a legal physical address in Kansas and a Registered Agent who is physically located in Kansas and who has a physical mailing address in Kansas and a post office box will not do.
So here is the solution in step-by-step form to the issues facing banned California-based Amazon affiliates:
(1) The banned Amazon affilate purchases a Kansas corporation through my service at a specially discounted rate. The corporation is good for one year, a physical address is provided, Registered Agent service is provided for one year, a mailing address is provided if needed, Articles of Incorporation are provided, a very professionally done up set of Corporate Bylaws are provided and the entire setup is 100% legal and above board. This is the same service that places like Legal Zoom will charge well over $1000.00 for but I am offering a specially discounted price of $249.00 for EXACTLY the same service.
(2) The banned affiliate can then obtain an EIN (Employer Identification Number) for the new corporation or for a small additional charge, I will obtain that number for the affiliate.
(3) The banned affiliate then registers the new KANSAS corporation with Amazon as the affiliate business entity as the KANSAS corporation is NOT located in California and has no business presence there. Merely having an employee in California does NOT automatically create a "business presence" in that state within the meaning of the term because the affilate is working for the KANSAS corporation. The KANSAS corporation should in fact do NO business in the state of California to ensure that no business presence is established, including opening a corporate bank account in California. With Amazon, you do not need a corporate bank account but you should use the corporate EIN when registering with Amazon as there would be no withholding from income to a corporation if the affilate selects "Exempt From Withholding".
(3) As far as getting paid by Amazon, Amazon does not care where it sends the money, so the affiliate can simply open a personal bank account, select "Wire Transfer", which has a $100 minimum payout and a $15 fee and Amazon will ask only for the Name of the bank, the Routing and Account numbers. If the affiliate wants to be paid by check, a corporate bank account could be opened and I would recommend Bank of America for those as they whould not give the affiliate too much trouble as long as the proper documentation is presented. Another way around this is to use the individual's name as the name of the corporation so that there would be even less trouble depositing into a personal account. Up to the affiliate; makes no difference to me.
(4) Neither myself nor the Registered Agent have any interest in the corporation and the Registered Agent only receives mail for the corporation, most of which is junk mail anyway but will forward any official mail to the actual owner of the corporation at no additional charge.
(5) The Amazon Affiliate then earns and prospers in a legal, ethical and moral manner. All is happiness and justice prevails.`
This method is NOT "tax evasion" as a corporation located outside of California would owe NO California tax of any kind anyway without a physical presence in that state and the Kansas corporation will have none. Quite legal and above board.
As a reminder, no Social Security Number, no business license and no additional fees are required in Kansas for me to set up a corporation for banned Amazon affiliates.
If you are concerned about a bank account setup, let me know via Skype and I can help you with some suggestions which would assuage your concerns as there all any number of ways to skin that cat.
I have established a unique email address at which I can be contacted for this service but for initial contact please use SKYPE only; I will not use ICQ:
onestopcorporationshop
I'll be in and out this holiday weekend so if I show as "Online" I am close to the computer. If I show as "Away", I am away but you can still send me messages.
If I can be of help, hit me up and in the meantime, enjoy the weekend!
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Here is the reply I received just a little while ago:
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Hello,
We do appreciate your concerns regarding your business and the advertisement you received. I have passed this information along to the appropriate department for further review.
While we are unable to provide you with specific advice in response to your question. I can tell you, the payee address on your account should reflect your primary residence or your company’s primary place of business. If you update the payee address listed on your account, you may be asked to provide proof of residency for the new address.
If you have further questions, we would suggest that you contact a legal or tax service for information relevant to your specific circumstances.
Thank you for your understanding.
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I do not know that that decides anything one way or another. However it does sound like if an established Amazon associate in California switched their address to an address in Kansas then Amazon might start asking questions.
If I receive anything else from them, I will post it here.
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