Consumers need Albert Einstein, Michio Kaku and perhaps even Sherlock Holmes when they receive their monthly cellphone bill in the mail or in their email inbox. Not only is the statement confusing, but it’s also marred with an enormous amount of taxes and fees.
Not only are you paying more for your cellphone services, you’re also doling out money for taxes and fees, at least according to a new report published by the Tax Foundation.
From 911 fees to utility sales taxes, the conservative think-tank avers that customers will pay on average 17.1 percent in federal, state and local taxes and fees. In several states, the average can reach 24 percent, while some city customers can endure 35 percent in taxes and fees.
In fact, the report argues that wireless customers can pay double the amount of taxes and fees than the average sales tax rate on various other goods and services. Is it time for consumers to hang up their smartphones and return to the landline?
Here are just some of the charges a customer can face in certain regions of the United States:
– 5.82 percent federal charge for the excise tax and part of the Universal Service Fund
– 10 percent Telecommunications Privilege Tax (District of Columbia)
– $3.90 911 fee (Chicago)
– 1.50 percent school district utility sales tax (New York)
– Two percent city and business occupation tax (Nebraska)
“Cell phones are increasingly the sole means of communication and connectivity for many Americans, particularly those struggling to overcome poverty,” the Tax Foundation said in a statement. “At the end of 2013, according to surveys by the Centers for Disease Control, over 56 percent of all poor adults had only wireless service, and nearly 40 percent of all adults were wireless only. Excessive taxes and fees, especially the regressive per line taxes like those imposed in Chicago and Baltimore, impose a disproportionate burden on low-income consumers.”
Americans have had to endure an endless list of taxes on almost everything consumers need, use and purchase. The list doesn’t end. Here is just a snapshot into the outrageous taxes that the average American is forced to pay:
– Dog license taxes
– Flush taxes
– Telephone minimum usage surcharge taxes
– Tire taxes
– Inventory taxes
Indeed, all of these taxes that are coercively imposed against the American people is the result of big government. As Milton Friedman said: “They think that the cure to big government is to have bigger government… the only effective cure is to reduce the scope of government – get government out of the business.”
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