Pro-Life Rewards Program Discontinued
Effective July 1, 2011, a new California sales tax law requires that all online retailers collect sales tax on purchases made by California customers. As a result, over 90 percent of the retailers that participated in the Pro-Life Rewards program cancelled their contracts effective July 1. While the new law only affects California shoppers, the majority of the Pro-Life Rewards companies did not have the software in place or it was cost prohibitive to differentiate between California shoppers and the other 49 states.
On June 30th the contractor that administers Pro-Life Rewards advised us of the situation, and on July 2nd they notified us that all but two of the online retailers had cancelled their contracts. As a result, the contractor has discontinued the Pro-Life Rewards program.
You may click on the following link and view an article in the Capitol Weekly regarding the California sales tax change as well as a few other states that have implemented the same law.
An additional article in the Los Angeles Times also discusses the impact on internet sales. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/30/business/la-fi-amazon-tax-20110630
According to the contractor, since the program was so new to our centers and the participation was just beginning to grow, the total amount collected from the retailers through Pro-Life Rewards was far less than his costs to administer the program.
Our integrity and our relationship with our centers are very important to us, and we deeply regret the time and effort you have invested in the program. Since all the materials to promote the program were provided to you at no cost, Plans for You and the contractor have absorbed the financial losses. We salute those of you who were willing to try something new, and we appreciate the confidence you placed in us as a participant in the program. If we are able to find a way to reinstate the program, we will notify you.