Skip to content
Residential
Business
Residential
Business
Building your order...
+

Illinois taxes, surcharges & fees

Taxes, surcharges and fees defined

Review our guide to understanding the taxes listed on your services bill in Illinois, including district-specific fees.

Defined in the tax definitions chart are the who, what, and where for each type of charge that may appear on your bill. Also, a legend shows the key codes that represent which type of service and who is being charged.

 

Legend

Key codes for the Tax Definitions Guide represent the type of service and who is being charged.

Key Tax Type Key Imposed On
T Telephone (Voice) C Customer
C Cable (Video) R RCN
D Data (Internet) R/P RCN passed through
to Customer
M Mobile S Surcharge imposed by RCN

Also in this region

See the Tax Definitions Guide for each state in this region:

Illinois tax, surcharge & fee guide

Tax, fee or surcharge Tax, fee or surcharge for T, C, D, or M Imposed on Definition Location on the bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge, or Fee section
Federal Excise Tax T C A federal tax on local telephone services and surcharges. Telephone
Federal Universal Service Fund T, M 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 may also be assessed on phone surcharges. Telephone, Mobile
State Sales Tax T, C, D, M C A tax levied by a state government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services. Telephone, Cable, Data, Mobile
Simplified Municipal Telecom Tax T, M R/P A tax levied by a state/local government on telephone services. Telephone, Mobile
ST Telecommunications Excise Tax T, M R/P A tax levied by state/local government on telephone services. Telephone, Mobile
ST Universal Service Fund Surcharge – Local T, M R/P A surcharge assessed on local service, intrastate regional and intrastate long distance calls. Funds raised by this levy are used to keep basic local phone service affordable for subscribers of telecommunications carriers located in rural and high cost areas within the state. Telephone, Mobile
State P.U.C. Tax T R/P A state imposed tax on phone services which supports Illinois Commerce Commission programs. Telephone
State Infrastructure Fee T, M R/P A fee levied by the state government on the charges for telephone services. Telephone, Mobile
County and City Sales Tax T, C, D C A tax levied by a local government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services. Telephone, Cable, Data
City Rental Tax D, T C A rental tax, known as the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax, imposed by the City of Chicago on the rental of personal property within the City. Rental tax applies to the monthly rental/lease charges for items such as modem rentals. Data, Telephone
911 Tax – State, County or City T, M C The E911 system utilizes a 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 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. Telephone, Mobile
Universal Service Charge T, M 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. NA – not charged
Subscriber Line Charge T S Monthly recurring charge applied to all phone line, trunk, and PRI services offered pursuant to RCN’s State tariffs and/or price lists. There are no exemptions associated with this product charge. Rates are subject to change.This charge is not government mandated nor a tax or fee imposed on you by the government. It is a surcharge RCN assesses and retains. Telephone
Port Charge T S 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. This charge is not government mandated nor a tax or fee imposed on you by the government. It is a surcharge RCN assesses and retains. Telephone
Regulatory Administration Fee T S This fee is assessed to recover the cost of complying with certain federal impositions related to voice service. It is a monthly charge to defray a portion of the fees paid to support government programs such as Telecommunications Relay Service and Local Number Portability, along with other charges assessed by the FCC, and additional indirect costs associated with administering and complying with government programs. This charge is not a customer tax or fee assessed by a government agency. It is a surcharge RCN assesses and retains. Telephone
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 and is normally assessed on all cable revenue. Cable
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. Cable
Amusement Tax C C An amusement tax is imposed by the City of Chicago and some counties on amusement activities. Amusement includes any paid television programming whether transmitted by wire, cable, fiberoptics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite, or similar means. Cable
Cable 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. Cable
Municipal Construction Surcharge C, D S Municipal Construction Surcharge recovers a portion of the expenses RCN incurs from government mandated relocation of its facilities that are in the public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or convenience. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. Data
Network Access and Maintenance Fee D S A fee to defray costs associated with building and maintaining RCN’s fiber powered broadband network, as well as the costs of expanding network capacity to support the continued increase in customers’ average bandwidth consumption. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you by the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. Data
PEG Access Fee C R/P This fee is part of the OVS and Franchise agreement and is passed through to cable subscribers. The fee is to support Public, Educational, and Governmental facilities, equipment and services. Cable
Broadcast Surcharge C S Recovery of a portion of the rapidly increasing costs charged by local broadcast TV stations for carriage rights. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. Cable
Entertainment Surcharge C S Recovery of a portion of the rapidly escalating charges levied by entertainment networks such as Viacom, AMC, Scrippts Networks and others. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. Cable
Sports Surcharge C S Recovery of a portion of the rapidly increasing costs of sports related programming. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. Cable

Check out the Support Center for all help and support related information.

Disclaimers

Not all services, speeds, packages, equipment, channels, tiers, pricing, streaming services, product offerings and product features are available in all areas. Offers valid only for new residential customers or previous customers with account in good standing who have not had our service within the last 60 days. All names, logos, images and service marks are property of their respective owners. Other restrictions may apply.