vinylweatherman
You type well loads
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2004
- Location
- United Kingdom
There are reports on some aff forums about affiliates being told they can no longer receive payments via MB. Not sure if that's a hard and fast rule or on a case by case basis (it probably also makes a difference where the money is coming from - eg: from TheCasinosMBAccount.com or from SomeRandomHoldingCompany.com).
So, why are affiliates considered to be "customers" in this respect, rather than "business partners". Many online casinos have offices in Israel, but this is a country very much against online gambling, yet casinos can still employ office staff, pay their salaries, and even pay their other business partners, yet the money they use DOES result from the "illegal activity" of online gambling.
It all looks very confusing. What exactly is the relationship between operator and affiliate. This gives the impression that affiliates are NOT classed as "business partners", but players operating a scaled up "refer a friend" scheme by using their own webspace, social media accounts, and direct emailing (otherwise known as spam).
The exact legal status of affiliates is important, especially now that the industry has entered the mainstream. It can have significant tax and legal implications to a player receiving money for "referring friends" to a business he is a customer of.
In the UK, referring a couple of friends for a discount or cashback is not likely to be subject to income tax (it has been raised by HMRC in the past, and they granted a dispensation), but at some point HMRC are going to consider that you are operating a business, and should register this with them (probably as self employed). Here in the UK, it isn't just tax, but self employed national insurance contributions, that affiliates need to worry about.
Skrill has said that Canadians can still use their accounts for other purposes, and affiliates are not gambling, they are selling marketing services to an operator offering gambling products. This does not give affiliates long to check the implications this move may have on them receiving their payments, and act if it does.