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States are going after Amazon for sales taxes, hot and heavy. According an infographic from TurboTax, affiliate taxes have been enacted in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, New York and Rhode Island. Another 14 states have introduced, but not passed, affiliate taxes.

Most of this is aimed at online retailers, but what about companies like Rackspace that have affiliate programs and reseller programs for cloud services?

California lawmakers may give Amazon.com a one-year reprieve in their contentious battle over state taxes, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Amazon has been fighting a new law that demanded Internet retailers collect state taxes starting this past July if they had offices, workers or other connections in California. Lawmakers hoped the tax would earn the economically depressed state $200 million annually. Amazon fought the law viciously, pulling out of the state and leaving 25,000 affiliates without the online platform that extended their sales reach.

It's fast approaching tax day and if you haven't already filed, you may be feeling a lot of pain around the whole process. Fortunately, the Internet is here to help. Especially with next year. New innovations online, both literally and as metaphors, can substantially reduce the headaches associated with paying taxes.

Determining what you can write off as a business expense can be particularly time-intensive if you haven't kept good track throughout the year. My wife and I have developed some helpful practices after several years of filing together to mitigate the terrible tax-time pain. And when I say we, I mean she's come up with these ideas and then either done them or told me to do them. Here's what we've found to be most helpful.

The first client, first sale, the website launch, the availability of the first prototype... Throughout the life of a startup there's no shortage of exciting milestones. Yet, I'm fairly confident that your first encounter with business and tax laws won't make the list.

While company filings and regulations may not be the most glamorous parts of your startup, they're absolutely critical to the success of your business and safety of your personal savings. Here's a quick rundown of the laws and regulations you need to consider when creating a startup. Of course, depending on your type of business, hiring a tax accountant or good attorney with specific experience in your industry can go a long way to helping you steer clear of trouble.

The United States Congress, which has been debating the issue of carried interest and capital gains tax for quite some time now, may be inching towards a solution as a vote is expected on the issue some time this week. As we've discusses as recently as last week, Congress, in an attempt to raise money, is considering hiking taxes on capital gains - the income a VC might make on a long-term investment with a startup. This week, as Congress nears a resolution, VCs have begun raising their voices against these tax increases.

The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) announced Tuesday that it delivered letters signed by over 1,700 members of the entrepreneurial community to each U.S. Senator in hopes of raising awareness of potentially harmful legislation. The Senate is considering financial reforms that could eliminate capital gains tax incentives for venture capital carried interest, which the NVCA says could lead to a severe decline in VC investments.

North Carolina has asked online retailer Amazon.com to turn over the names and addresses of every customer who has made a purchase on the site since 2003 and what they bought. The N.C. Department of Revenue is making the request in an attempt to audit Amazon's compliance with state sales and tax laws, according to a Reuters report.

Amazon says revealing this data violates customer privacy and has filed a lawsuit to prevent having to turn over the records, which hold the transaction details on 50 million purchases over a 7-year time frame.

Online retailer Amazon has ended all Colorado-based affiliate accounts after a new law passed by the state's legislature would have forced them to collect and pay state sales taxes. The law, HB 10-1193, states that any affiliate marketer making more than $10,000 for a retailer is declared a legal agent, and a state presence, of that company. Rather than be forced to pay the state taxes, Amazon has instead side-stepped the law by closing its doors to all affiliates based in Colorado.

While it is relatively cheap to get a web startup off the ground these days, other industries aren't as lucky. Take green-tech or medical technology for instance; at TED this year Bill Gates said that the minimum investment the world needs to create sustainable eco-friendly renewable energy is "only" in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars - and that's just to get started. It's industries like these that require Angel and VC investments at the early-stage level to get significant innovations off the ground, and a government tax credit proposed for angels in Minnestoa could encourage them to dole out more cash for high-tech ventures.

Just in time for tax season, online bookkeeping service Outright.com will begin providing a 1099 tax filing service for entrepreneurs and sole proprietors on top of its current W-9 service. The site is also launching what they say is the first community for the self-employed where startups and entrepreneurs can find bookkeepers.

For most of us, tax day is April 15, but for entrepreneurs required to meet the February 1 deadline for providing 1099 forms to contracted employees, the madness starts now.