# Look At Your Phone Bill



## ccheese (Oct 22, 2009)

Next time you get your phone bill, take a good look at some of the charges. Got mine in front of me. What is :

Federal excise tax ? E-911 Tax ? Va Cost Recovery Surcharge ? Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge ?
Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge for Long Distance ? Va Communications Sales Tax ? Federal Subscriber
Line Charge ? Cable Right of Way Use Fee ? PEG Grant Fee ? State Sales Tax ? Va Communications Sales Tax ?
Federal Universal Service Charge ? Regulatory Charge ? Administrative Charge ? Va Gross Receipts Surcharge ?

The above fees total $17.70, and these are in addition to my normal telephone bill.

I just wonder if any of this would stand up in court ????

Charles


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## B-17engineer (Oct 22, 2009)

Which phone company do you use? I have Verizon ( I pay my own cellphone bill, darn dad!) and looked I didn't see any of that..


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## ccheese (Oct 22, 2009)

B-17engineer said:


> Which phone company do you use?



Verizon ..... This is not my cell phone, this is the house phone.

Charles


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## B-17engineer (Oct 22, 2009)

Huh....interesting. I wonder what they mean.

All my dad knows, being a police officer, is that E-911 tax is a tax to enhance 911 operators equipment. Federal excise tax is just a source of revenue he said.

This could be a help to understand it. 

Verizon | Billing Center


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## timshatz (Oct 22, 2009)

CC, dump the house phone and go buy a Verizon (or other) cell phone with 1000 minutes on it. The phone and minutes usually total $100. Then, when you run low on minutes, you just dump more money in to add them. 

If you don't spend much time calling people and are tired of telemarketers, it is the best way to handle the phone.


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## pbfoot (Oct 22, 2009)

ccheese said:


> Next time you get your phone bill, take a good look at some of the charges. Got mine in front of me. What is :
> 
> Federal excise tax ? E-911 Tax ? Va Cost Recovery Surcharge ? Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge ?
> Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge for Long Distance ? Va Communications Sales Tax ? Federal Subscriber
> ...


Myhome phone with 200m long distance and 2 features is only 34 a month including the sales tax


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## mudpuppy (Oct 22, 2009)

How odd; I was just looking at my Embarq bill tonight and moaning about all these user fees and taxes. Mine add up to $14.24 and may be d/t things like the "PEG Grant Fee" or "Cable Right Of way Use Fee" not being on my bill.
I wonder if that last one I listed means you are helping the cable companies pay for piggybacking on other utilities lines/poles?

Small print mayhem that keeps their wallets fatter by having us foot the bill for infrastructure costs and taxes...at least thats what i think.
Regards,
Derek


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## RabidAlien (Oct 22, 2009)

One of those charges that I looked up awhile back (have since gotten rid of the home phone and gone strictly cell) is a fee that pays the salary of the switchboard operator. Literally, the ladies who sat at the board and moved plugs to connect people. We're still paying their salaries, even though they don't work at the phone company anymore and are no longer GETTING a paycheck. A very large portion of those "fees" goes into some fat-cat's pocket somewhere.


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## B-17engineer (Oct 22, 2009)

mudpuppy said:


> How odd; I was just looking at my Embarq bill tonight and moaning about all these user fees and taxes. Mine add up to $14.24 and may be d/t things like the "PEG Grant Fee" or "Cable Right Of way Use Fee" not being on my bill.
> I wonder if that last one I listed means you are helping the cable companies pay for piggybacking on other utilities lines/poles?
> 
> Small print mayhem that keeps their wallets fatter by having us foot the bill for infrastructure costs and taxes...at least thats what i think.
> ...



Our house is Embarq too, our fees are only 4.29 extra.


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## ToughOmbre (Oct 22, 2009)

ccheese said:


> Next time you get your phone bill, take a good look at some of the charges. Got mine in front of me. What is :
> 
> Federal excise tax ? E-911 Tax ? Va Cost Recovery Surcharge ? Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge ?
> Va Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge for Long Distance ? Va Communications Sales Tax ? Federal Subscriber
> ...



As a retired Verizon employee Charles, I can tell you that the charges are legal (but not necessarily logical or fair). The FCC and the Virginia SCC must approve those charges, in addition to all the state and local taxes that you get hammered with.

That's the reason many folks are giving up their land lines (like some of our members have stated) and going with cell phones only.

TO


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## GrauGeist (Oct 22, 2009)

They're also falling back to such terms as "surcharge", "fees" and "fund" to get around the word "tax"...

I look on my bill, and I see "almost" looks like they're taxing a tax.

Here's my AT&T residential breakdown:

*Surcharges and Other Fees*
Federal Subscriber Line Charge: $4.39
Rate Surcharge: .27¢
State Regulatory Fee: .04¢
Federal Universal Service Fee: .56¢
*Total Surcharges and Other Fees: $5.26*

*Government Fees and Taxes*
CA High Cost Fund Surcharge - A: .03¢
CA High Cost Fund - B and Advanced Svc Fund: .10¢
California Teleconnect Fund Surcharge: .02¢
Universal Lifeline Telephone Service Surcharge: .023¢
CA Relay Service and Communications Devices Fund: .04¢
9-1-1 Emergency System: .10¢
Federal: .74¢
*Total Government Fees and Taxes: $1.26*


My regular service is $19.50, and after you add the two subtotals, it comes out to $26.02 PLUS the fees I get levied on my internet service (which is about $8.00 worth of "fees" a month) for the same thing. My ISP is not affiliated with the phone service, it's a private company.

It kinda looks like we're getting hosed, here.


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## Wayne Little (Oct 23, 2009)

Goddam fees and charges.....


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## DBII (Oct 23, 2009)

One of the fees is to fund phone service in rual areas. This was added back in to 30's so the small towns could afford the cost of stringing the cable. Almost 80 years later and we are still paying for the cable. Each year when I renew my car tags, I have to pay $1.00 into a fund that provides bike helments for low income children's heads. WTF, who says the government is not out of control. 

DBII


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