As if it wasn't bad enough that there are all these different charges, each company calls each charge something different! Here we have all the common aliases we have heard of for the various charges. If you find a charge on your phone bill that isn't listed here, please let us know at [email protected] so I can get it added to the list. Thanks!
- CA High Cost Fund Surcharge See High Cost Fund B.
- CA Relay and Comm Surcharge See California Relay Service.
- California Relay Service (Aka: CA Relay and Comm Surcharge) This surcharge appears only in the State of California, and is charged as a set percentage
of your intrastate service regardless of which telephone service provider you use.
It enables people with hearing and/or speech disabilities who use text telephones to communicate with people using standard voice telephones.
- Carrier Line Charge See PICC.
- Carrier Universal Service Charge See USF.
- Customer Line Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- FCC Approved Customer Line Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- FCC Primary Carrier 1st Line See PICC.
- FET See Federal Tax.
- Federal Access Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- Federal Excise Tax See Federal Tax.
- Federal Tax (Aka: FET, Federal Excise Tax) This tax appears on both your local and long distance phone bills. It is charged as
a set percentage regardless of which telephone service provider you use. Little known fact is that it started as a temporary luxury tax in
1898 on telephone service to pay for the Spanish-American War. It was then phased out. A 1 cent Federal tax was then applied
in 1914 on toll telephone and telegraph messages costing more than 15 cents. That was again repealed in 1916 and reinstated in 1918. It
was repealed again in 1924, and reinstated again in 1932 at a rate of 7%. It then continued to rise to a high of 25% on messages costing more than
24 cents (and 15% on local service charges) in 1944. It was reduced to a flat 10% tax on toll calls and 9% on local in 1954.
The rate gradually was reduced to as low as 1% in 1982. It was raised again to 3% for toll calls and 2.7% for local in 1983.
For more details on this tax, you can contact the Internal Revenue Service Excise Tax Branch or take a look at the
FCC Reference Book, Rates, Price Indexes and Expenditures
for Telephone Service.
- Federal Subscriber Line Charge (Aka: Federal Access Charge, Customer Line Charge, Interstate Access Charge, Interstate Single Line Charge, FCC Approved Customer Line Charge, Subscriber Line Charge or SLC)
This federally ordered charge billed by your local telephone company pays part of the cost to the local telephone company of
supplying a phone line into your home or business. It is designed to help local phone companies recover the cost of providing "local loops" which
refers to outside telephone wires, underground conduit, telephone poles, and other equipment and facilities connecting you to the telephone
network. This is NOT a tax. It is a charge that is part of the price you pay to your local telephone company. Neither the FCC nor any other
government agency receives the Federal Subscriber Line Charge. The FCC places a maximum cap on this charge.
- Gross Receipts Tax Surcharge See State and Local Taxes.
- High Cost Fund B (Aka: CA High Cost Fund Surcharge) This is charged only in California as a set percentage of intrastate
usage. It serves a similar purpose in the State of California as the USF serves on a national basis.
- Interstate Access Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- Interstate Single Line Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- Interstate Tax Surcharge See State and Local Taxes.
- Intrastate Access Fee (IAF) A fee collected by the LEC in some states See State and Local Taxes.
- Kansas USF (Aka: Kansas Universal Service Fund) This is charged only in Kansas as a set percentage of intrastate usage.
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Kansas as the USF serves on a national basis.
- Kansas Universal Service Fund See Kansas USF.
- LD Line Charge See PICC.
- LNP See Local Number Portability.
- Local Number Portability (Aka: Number Portability Service Charge or LNP) This fee started to appear on many local
telephone bills in February 1999. This fee allows local telephone companies to recover
costs associated with supporting the technical capability to allow a consumer or business to retain their
existing telephone number when switching to another local provider. Local companies are
allowed, but not required, to pass on these costs. However most do. They are only allowed to charge this fee for five years from the first date
they start to charge the fee, and are not allowed to start charging the fee until they can provide the ability to the end-user of retaining their
phone number in the event of switching local telephone companies. Local telephone companies are required to make this "number portability" service
available within 6 months of being requested to do so by another local telephone company wishing to service the area. This is NOT a tax.
It is a charge that is part of the price you pay to your local telephone company. Neither the FCC nor any other
government agency receives the Local Number Portability fee. Local telephone companies are not allowed to charge this fee
for customers on the Lifeline Assistance Program.
- Monthly Fee Some calling plans have a per month fee in addition to all of the other fees. This differs from a monthly minimum. It is a set fee regardless of how many calls you make each month.
- Monthly Minimum This fee is charged by some carriers if your specific rate plan has volume requirements. This differs from a monthly fee. If, for instance, your plan requires a $5 minimum per month and you only made $4 of calls, you would see the remaining $1 as a monthly minimum fee.
- National Access Fee See PICC.
- 911 Service Fee This fee is charged in some localities to support the emergency 911 telephone service. It normally
appears on the local telephone bill.
- Nebraska USF (Aka: Nebraska Universal Service Fund) This is charged only in Nebraska as a set percentage of intrastate usage.
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Nebraska as the USF serves on a national basis.
- Nebraska Universal Service Fund See Nebraska USF.
- Number Portability Service Charge See Local Number Portability.
- Payphone Access Fee. Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, payphone operators must be compensated
by long-distance operators for toll-free calls made through their phones. Most long distance companies pass this charge on to you on your
long distance bill for calling card calls placed from a payphone or toll free calls received by you from a payphone. This is NOT a tax, and
can vary from carrier to carrier. I have some data on charges levied by specific companies, E-mail me if you have questions.
- PICC (Aka: National Access Fee, LD Line Charge, Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge, Presubscribed Line Charge, Regulatory Related Charge, FCC Primary Carrier 1st Line, or Carrier Line Charge)
Pronounced "pixie." This charge started on January 1, 1998 as part of the FCC overhaul of
telephone fees. Long distance companies pay a flat fee to the local telephone company when you pre-subscribe your telephone line to
their long distance service. (Sometimes referred to "Dial 1" or "Plus 1" service) The charge is designed to compensate the local telephone companies
for the costs associated with providing "local loop" service. If a consumer or business has not selected a long distance company for its telephone
lines, the local telephone company may bill for the PICC. Although every long distance company is charged the
same flat rate per line, long distance companies are allowed to recharge you for this in
any way they see fit, and each company uses a different method to charge this carrier specific fee. It is normally not presented to
you in such a way that you would think it is a competitive pricing issue. But it is! Some companies do not charge this fee at all, and some charge a carrier specific flat fee.
This is NOT a tax.
- Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge See PICC.
- Presubscribed Line Charge See PICC.
- Regulatory Related Charge See PICC.
- State Additional Charges See State and Local Taxes.
- State and Local Taxes (Aka: Gross Receipts Tax Surcharge, State Additional Charges, Interstate Tax Surcharge,
State Universal Service Fund, State Infrastructure Maintenance Fee) State and local governments assess various
taxes in different ways and at different rates. Proceeds go to the local governing body. It can be imposed on the revenues of local
telephone companies, and long-distance companies operating within a state. Although these taxes vary by your location, they
are the same for all providers serving that area. For more information about these taxes, please contact your
local and state tax offices. You can find their number in the government section of your local telephone directory.
- State Infrastructure Maintenance Fee See State and Local Taxes.
- State Universal Service Fund See State and Local Taxes.
- Subscriber Line Charge See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- SLC See Federal Subscriber Line Charge.
- Telephone Relay Charge Southwestern Bell charges this in, at
least, OK as a state fee to subsidize handicapped access to the
telephone system via special equipment and PC's.
- Texas Inf Fd See Texas Infrastructure Fund.
- Texas Infrastructure Fund (Aka: Texas Inf Fd) This is charged only in Texas as a set percentage of intrastate usage.
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Texas as the USF serves on a national basis. It is in addition to the Texas Universal Service Fund.
- Texas Universal Service See Texas Universal Service Fund.
- Texas Universal Service Fund (Aka: Texas Universal Service) This is charged only in Texas as a set percentage of intrastate, international, and interstate usage that meets 2 of 3 conditions (originates in Texas, terminates in Texas, billed to an address in Texas).
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Texas as the USF serves on a national basis. It is in addition to the Texas Infrastructure Fund.
- Universal Service Charge See USF.
- Universal Service Fund Charge See USF.
- USF (Aka: Universal Service Fund Charge or Universal Service Charge, Carrier Universal Service Charge)
This charge started on January 1, 1998 as part of the FCC overhaul of telephone fees. All companies that provide
telephone service between states pay a set percentage of their previous year's billings.
The charge is designed to ensure affordable access
to telecommunications services for telephone customers with low incomes, telephone customers
who live in areas where the cost of providing telephone service is extremely high, libraries,
schools, and rural health care providers. Although all companies providing interstate telephone
service are charged the same percentage of their billings, companies are allowed to
recharge you for this in any way they see fit, and each company uses a different method to charge this
carrier specific fee. It is normally not presented to you in such a way that you would think it
is a competitive pricing issue. But it is! Some companies do not charge this fee at all, some charge a
carrier specific flat fee, others charge a percentage of your interstate and international usage, while others charge
a percentage of your entire bill. Although the charge the companies pay is in essence a tax, the fee on your bill is carrier specific, and is NOT a set tax.
The telephone company keeps any difference between the USF fees they collect and the charge they pay to the Universal Service Fund.
- Utah USF (Aka: Utah Universal Service Fund) This is charged only in Utah as a set percentage of intrastate usage.
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Utah as the USF serves on a national basis.
- Utah Universal Service Fund See Utah USF.
- Wyoming USF (Aka: Wyoming Universal Service Fund) This is charged only in Wyoming as a set percentage of intrastate usage.
It serves a similar purpose in the State of Wyoming as the USF serves on a national basis.
- Wyoming Universal Service Fund See Wyoming USF.
The FCC does not require long distance companies to put the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge -- or any other charges or surcharges -- on your telephone bill.
Because the long distance market is competitive, the FCC does not directly regulate long distance company charges for service. As a result of this flexibility, long distance companies are taking very different approaches to whether and how they are changing charges to their customers to reflect the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charges they pay. Some long distance companies may not charge any separate fees related to the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge. Others have added charges to their customers' bills -- such as a "national access fee" -- to recover the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charges they pay to local telephone companies.
I have collected some data as to the taxes and fees levied by specific carriers, if you have any questions or pertenent data to add, please E-mail me.