What taxes and fees are billed to my account?
This article will help you understand the specific taxes, surcharges, and regulatory fees that appear on your Phone.com invoice.
Phone.com is regulated by the FCC as an Interconnected VoIP Carrier, which obliges us to collect certain taxes and fees.
Taxes and fees are collected by many states, as well as by certain counties, cities and other municipalities based on local laws and regulations. This is why you may be charged a different total price on your bill for a specific service based on where you live.
We’re often asked why we don’t even out taxes and fees, charging a flat-rate total price across the board, regardless of where our customers live. The answer is that there are rules that govern the calculation and display of taxes and fees, and the amount and type of taxes and fees also change regularly.
We don’t enjoy charging taxes and fees, but we must do so in order to provide our service. Some of the taxes and fees we collect include:
Regulatory Recovery Fee
Phone.com uses this fee to recover certain of Phone.com’s costs associated with compliance with regulatory, legal and tax requirements including: (1) fees Phone.com is required to pay to support the TRS fund, which supports facilities and services used to provide telecommunications services for individuals with hearing or speech disabilities; (2) costs Phone.com incurs administering, billing, collecting and making required tax and regulatory filings and complying with certain federal regulatory obligations; (3 regulatory surcharges Phone.com pays to the providers of telecommunications that Phone.com uses to provide its services.
e911 Service Fee
The 911 Service Fee helps Phone.com recover its costs of providing 911 service for Phone.com customers as required by Federal Communications Commission regulations. "
State and Local Taxes and Surcharges
These charges include taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed by state, county, parish, borough, district, and municipal governments, such as state universal service funds, local 911 services, sales and utility taxes, and other local taxes, fees, and surcharges, based on the registered location of your Phone.com device. These are state and local government mandated charges.