| TAX TYPES |
TAX FOR:
T, C, or D |
IMPOSED
ON |
DEFINITION |
| Federal Excise Tax |
T |
C |
A federal tax on intrastate, interstate and international
telephone services and surcharges. |
| Federal Universal Service Fund |
T |
R, P |
A federal surcharge on interstate and international telephone
services to support universal service programs such as the schools and libraries discount
program. The Federal USF is also assessed on the Federal Line Charge and the Local Number
Portability Charge. |
| Federal Telecom Relay Surcharge |
T |
R, P |
A federal surcharge on interstate and international
telephone services to support the telephone relay service designed for persons who are
deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. The Federal TRS is also assessed on the
Federal Line Charge and the Local Number Portability Surcharge. The rate is
currently .08%. |
| State Sales Tax |
T, C, or D |
C |
A tax levied by a state government on the sale of
tangible personal property and/or certain services such as telephone or cable. |
| State Gross Receipts - Telephone |
T |
R, P |
A tax levied by a state government on telephone
services provided to residents of the state. The tax is assessed on all intrastate
and interstate charges. |
| 911 Tax - State |
T |
C |
The E911 system utilizes a computerized system to
automatically route emergency telephone calls to the appropriate Public Safety
Answering Point (PSAP). The enhanced 911 system allows the PSAP operator to automatically
see the phone number and address of the person calling. The E911 fee covers the
installation and maintenance expenses for the E911 system. All lines (residential
and commercial) are subject to a monthly E911 charge per line which is imposed by the
respective state and local Public Service commissions. |
| Federal Line Charge |
T |
C |
A nationwide charge that is designed to recover a portion of local
telephone companies' costs associated with providing long distance carriers with access to the
local phone network. Long distance carriers pay the remainder of the cost. This charge is
regulated by the FCC. |
| Local Number Portability |
T |
C |
Local Number Portability charges provide funds for significant
upgrades to networks, services and systems that will allow customers to keep their phone
numbers when they change local phone companies. Per an FCC ruling, each access line is
subject to a this monthly charge regardless of whether the number has been ported or not. |
| Port Charge |
T |
C |
This surcharge is assessed only on Commercial customers using
ISDN and DS-1 products. It is a recurring charge for the use of the port which interfaces
and connects the local loop to a high-speed network. |
| State Gross Receipts - Cable |
C |
R, P |
A tax levied by a state government on all cable services
provided to residents of the state. |
| OVS Fee - Cable |
C |
R, P |
A fee paid to a municipality to allow use of the public streets
and rights-of-way and operate a cable television system within that municipality. This is a
contractual agreement with the town/city and is normally assessed on all cable revenue. |
| PEG Access Fee |
C |
R, P |
This fee is part of the OVS agreement and is passed thru to cable
subscribers. The fee is to support Public, Educational, and Governmental facilities, equipment
and services. |
| Public Access Corporation Fee |
C |
R, P |
This fee is part of the OVS agreement and is passed thru to cable
subscribers. The fee is paid to the Public Access Corporation of D.C. to support community
programming efforts. |
