What claim does the Government have toward taxing cell phone subscribers?

Question

I could swear that the new federal surcharge we are getting billed for directly now is suppose to be paid from the company (Sprint) to the government? Ummm....double taxation of goods???? I actually blame our government for allowing this. I pay taxes on my service to my local and state government. Federal is not suppose to come into it. This is a Federal tax imposed on corporations and now they want us to shell out our hard earned dollars in addition to paying outrageous bills. Any comments????

Answer 1

I worked for Sprint (5 years) and this is what they told us:  The gov levies fees on the company for the svc they provide to their subscribers.  These fees must be pd by the company.  The gov allows the companies to recover some of the fees paid by adding a percentage to a subscribers bill/stmt.  It's basically a "luxury tax".   If Sprint didn't have to pay, you wouldn't have to pay.  It's not fair, I know.  They are call surcharges because they are not taxes.  

Good Question.

Answer 2

Most of the fees that phone companies charge (for cell phones AND land lines) are not taxes at all, just junk fees that they tack on.  There is a Federal excise tax on the local portion of the bill, along with possibly city, county, or local taxes but the other fees such as the Universal Service Fund Fee, Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee, and 911 Service Fee are just junk fees.  The law doesn't bar them from charging them so they are free to tack on as much as they wish.