Josh - $21.95 residential and $29.95 business.
On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 5:06 PM, Fred Goldstein <fgoldst...@ionary.com>wrote: > On 7/28/2013 2:20 PM, Jeremy wrote: > > So while I am de minimus should I not be charging a USF fee? You stated > that I cannot charge more than I pass along but if I pass along nothing > until I am at the 10K mark then am I not supposed to bill it until that > point? > > > Carlos has good advice -- consult a lawyer. (I'm not a lawyer but I play > an engineer on TV.) I just checked with one who could not render actual > "advice". Rather, he explained, "This is one of the mysteries of USF." > > The FCC forgot about this case when they did the rules. So the usual > practice seems to be to collect the fees. You might after all be passing > them along to your wholesale provider, who is charging USF to you. But if > you do go over the $10k limit, then you could owe retroactively, and in > that case you want the money in the bank! So unless they've clarified this > in the instructions on the Form 499s (be warned; they do that sometimes, > and you don't know the rule until you read the new fine print), you can > pass along the fee you would be collecting under safe harbor, and apply it > to the USF charges you're being hit with. > > I don't think these crazy fees are a reason to avoid voice services, but > they are a pain to administer. The FCC is terrible about writing clear > rules. > > > > On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Fred Goldstein <fgoldst...@ionary.com>wrote: > >> On 7/28/2013 12:46 AM, Jeremy wrote: >> >> From what I read it seems like you can collect whatever you want directly >> from your customers but it may be considered as income and taxed as such. >> So you can't really pass it on as a direct fee and bypass your income tax >> liability for it. >> >> >> No. Federal billing rules say that you cannot collect more on your >> retail bill for FUSF than you pass along. No markups allowed. Most of the >> other charges can also be passed along one for one, but state rules could >> vary. >> >> But the rate is not exactly what you think. The Federal USF rate is >> calculated as a percentage, changed quarterly (it has gone over 17%), of >> your interstate telecommunications service billing. If you are providing >> local telephone service, that line item is not subject to USF as it is >> intrastate, not intersate. Internet access is not subject to USF as it is >> information service, not telecommunications service. The tax was meant to >> apply to long distance calls, which were a lot of money back in the day. >> >> If you are (as is the norm nowadays) providing a service that does not >> charge explicitly for interstate long distance, then you have two options. >> There is a "safe harbor" of 64.9%, wherein that percentage of the total >> phone package is deemed interstate. So if you sold it for $10/month, the >> tax would be applied to $6.49 of it. This number was computed back when >> VoIP services were primarily used as cheap dial-around long distance, not >> as primary lines, so the "PIU" (percentage interstate use -- this number >> comes up a LOT in telecom billing) was high. >> >> You can also compute what percentage of your calls are actually >> interstate, and pay USF on that percentage of the bill. This involves >> filling out the Form 499-Q's correctly, but it is the norm nowadays. >> >> Bear in mind that there is a "de minimis" rule. If you would owe less >> than $10k/year, then you only file Form 499-A (annual, vs. quarterly), and >> don't pay anything. BUT you then are treated as a retail customer of your >> wholesale provider(s), and *they* collect USF on what they bill you. If >> you are no de minimis, and do actually pay USF, then you tell that to your >> providers, who have to verify it against FCC records, and then they don't >> charge you USF. It's sort of like a retailer's exemption on sales tax; >> it's only collected once. Note that this whole system is on the docket at >> the FCC and they're still thinking about how to revise it, but don't seem >> to have a consensus, so they're just putting it off. >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jul 27, 2013 at 10:26 PM, Chris Fabien <ch...@lakenetmi.com>wrote: >> >>> That looks about right, it varies by state/locality of course. We >>> collect Federal USF, State use tax, state and county E911. The USF you get >>> to pocket until your required contributions are $10k/year - under that you >>> are considered "de minimus" and just have to file the annual form. >>> >>> When we set up our billing the Telecom Relay Fund passed under our >>> radar so now we're just paying for that out of pocket. I'm not sure if you >>> are allowed to collect that specifically from your customers as well. >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 12:20 AM, Jeremy <jeremysmi...@gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> I am attempting to figure out all of the taxes for VoiP and the >>>> main thing that has me confused is the Universal Service Fund. It seems >>>> that my state (Utah) has a USF of 0.45% >>>> http://www.psc.state.ut.us/utilities/telecom/documents/Rule%20746-360%20amendment.rtf >>>> >>>> >>>> Then it also seems like the Feds want 15.1%?? That is huge! >>>> http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/contribution-factor-quarterly-filings-universal-service-fund-usf-management-support >>>> >>>> Then there is sales and use tax of >>>> *State Sales & Use -* 4.7% >>>> *Municipality Sales & Use - *varies - see >>>> http://tax.utah.gov/salestax/rate/13q3combined.pdf >>>> >>>> Then we have E911: >>>> >>>> *E911 State -* .08 >>>> *E911 County -* .61 >>>> *Poison Control -* .07 >>>> *-------------------------------* >>>> *Total for E911 -* .76 >>>> >>>> Then, since October 2011 we are also liable for the *Telecommunications >>>> Relay Fund* - .06 >>>> http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-11-150A1.pdf >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wireless mailing list >>>> Wireless@wispa.org >>>> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >>>> >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wireless mailing list >>> Wireless@wispa.org >>> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >>> >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wireless mailing >> listWireless@wispa.orghttp://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> >> >> -- >> Fred R. Goldstein fred "at" interisle.net >> Interisle Consulting Group >> +1 617 795 2701 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wireless mailing list >> Wireless@wispa.org >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wireless mailing > listWireless@wispa.orghttp://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > > > -- > Fred R. Goldstein fred "at" interisle.net > Interisle Consulting Group > +1 617 795 2701 > > > _______________________________________________ > Wireless mailing list > Wireless@wispa.org > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > >
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