| 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 Tax |
T or C |
R, P |
A tax levied by a state government on all intrastate
telephone services. |
| State Telecom Relay Surcharge |
T |
R, P |
A state surcharge on telephone access lines to support
the telephone relay service designed for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech
impaired. |
| City Sales Tax |
T, C, or D |
C |
A tax levied by a local government on the sale of tangible
personal property and/or certain services such as telephone or cable. |
| 911 Tax - State, County or City |
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. However,
the way that the charge is applied varies by state and in some markets vary by county as well. |
| Universal Service Charge |
T |
R |
The purpose of this fund is to maintain the affordability of local
service rates for customers while allowing rural telephone companies to reduce accesss charges and
intra-LATA toll rates, on a revenue-neutral basis, thereby encouraging greater competition. The
charge cannot be passed on to the customer. |
| 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. |
| Franchise Fee |
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 ans is normally assessed on all cable revenue. |
| Copyright Fee - NO LONGER VALID |
C |
R, P |
As required by federal Copyright Law, franchised cable systems
are subject to copyright liability for their use of copyrighted material in the retransmission
of television broadcasts to subscribers. This fee is paid to the Register of Copyrights. |
| Regulatory Fee |
C |
R, P |
This fee is an annual assessment imposed by the FCC pursuant to
Public Law 103-66, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. The FCC uses these monies to
offset costs associated with its enforcement, public service, international and policy and
rulemaking activities. |
