Cell Phone Tax Moratorium
Support a Cell Phone Tax Moratorium Today
Tired of spiraling state and local taxes, fees and surcharges on your monthly wireless bill? You are not alone. More than 253 million American wireless consumers are increasingly saddled with an unfair tax burden by their state and local governments. Wireless costs have dropped nearly 80 percent over the last 10 years, but the typical wireless consumer now faces over 15 percent on average in taxes, fees and surcharges on his or her wireless service, more than twice the average tax rate for other goods and services in this country.
Congress is now back in session for 2008 and is again working to forge consumer-friendly telecom policies that will impact more than 253 million American wireless consumers just like you. Already, there is important legislation being considered in Washington, D.C., and you can make a difference by letting your U.S. Representative and your Senators know where you stand. Please act now to support a 3-year freeze on any new, discriminatory state and local wireless taxes.
Today's American wireless consumer faces a tremendously unfair financial burden in the States:
- Wireless taxes are currently DOUBLE or TRIPLE that of other goods and services. The state-local tax rate on wireless service increased more than 8 times faster than the rate on other taxable goods and services between January 2003 and July 2005. Clearly, wireless consumers are targeted for discriminatory taxes.
- Nationally, wireless consumers pay approximately $20 billion dollars in wireless taxes and fees.
- Consumers already pay an average of 15% in combined federal, state and local government taxes and fees on their monthly wireless bills.
- 17 States including the District of Columbia – Nebraska, Washington, Florida, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Rhode Island, Missouri, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Utah, Illinois and Kansas – are each above 15 percent in combined monthly wireless taxes, fees and surcharges.
- 28 more states – have double-digit combined monthly wireless taxes, fees and surcharges.
- Cities often target wireless consumers when they can’t balance their budgets. For example, Baltimore City imposed a $3.50 per-line, per-month charge on Baltimore residents to pay for unrelated city services. This regressive tax applies whether a customer pays $30.00 per-month for service, or $100 per-month for service. What’s worse, consumers buying family-share plans must pay the tax on each line! This is clearly an unfair tax burden for lower and fixed-income wireless consumers, their families and their businesses.
- States like South Dakota, Kentucky and Pennsylvania double-tax wireless consumers by placing a “Gross Receipts Tax” (GRT) on wireless service, this on top of state sales taxes and other local taxes.
- More than eight years after the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) urged states to reform and modernize their telecommunications taxes, most states have failed to enact meaningful reforms that benefit consumers. Congress needs to act if the states will not!
- Because unfair, new state and local taxes, fees and surcharges on wireless are regressive - and significantly increase consumers’ cost of service - the burden often falls especially hard on fixed-income users such as seniors, working families and small businesses.
- Too often, this tax responsibility puts wireless out of reach for far too many who have come to rely upon its value, convenience and safety as a preferred communications tool for their daily lives.
Legislation has been introduced in the 110th Congress providing for a 3-year freeze (or tax moratorium) for wireless, which would put a stop to all new, discriminatory state and local wireless taxes. You can help today by urging your Congressman and Senators in Washington to pass a Cell Phone Tax Moratorium, placing a 3-year freeze on all new, discriminatory state and local wireless taxes.