VOIP etc > Voice Over IP - VOIP > VOIP Tech Chat > [VOIPo] To start itemizing taxes and fees.

[VOIPo] To start itemizing taxes and fees.

Who says they "have to" do this? It is their choice to do so. Not every VoIP provider does it, or will do it.

reply to dcurrey

reply to dcurrey
Well, that just did it for me. Was looking at moving over from CallCentric, but right now that would push my monthly more than one I am currently paying.

reply to dcurrey

reply to PX Eliezer
Others does not equal ALL.

Yes some still do it the old way for now. But we just lost another one that didn't itemize everything.

Yes they could just raise the so called recovery fee to say $6 to cover they expenses but then those that don't come close to the $6 in taxes/fee would raise hell. Up the base price everyone will raise hell and businesses fear revenue will be lost since company Z advertises lower base price. Its an old argument and it just goes round and round. I have given up on it, just no good solution.

The solution is to compare prices taking into account all "taxes", "fees" and "recovery" costs. And compare the total, whether a provider charges such junk charges or not.

Without the FTC or some other government agency forcing this it just won't happen.

Yes the advertised price should be what you pay. Doesn't matter if its voip (USF), buying a car (destination charge) or getting oil change (oil disposal fee.) But I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Cablevision's Optimum Voice charges a flat-rate with no add-on's for taxes, etc. If they can do it, anyone can.

Agreed. I share your wish that more did so.

I think Tim made his point when he said ....

"Some providers choose a very conservative approach and handle things just as if they were a traditional telco. Some choose to ignore this completely. Others take a more aggressive, yet compliant approach (which is what we’re doing). Essentially, we collect/remit only what we have to. Anything that’s still being challenged or things in states where it’s a gray area will generally not be collected. This is kind of the lesser of two evils. It leaves a small amount of liability since some of the “gray area” items could come up later, but it takes care of everything already in place."

Having come from the telco world, I personally know of some companies that shove most of the fees and taxes into their pockets. When/if they get caught, only then does it surface.
Some of them you may have heard of and others are small local outfits I know of.

From experience, the tax regs are so complex and because they overlap across all the states and municipalities, that even the tax people auditing this have no idea about how it works.

Some friends still in the CLEC arena have indicated just how they function with their taxes when they either do it themselves or even when they outsource to one of the companies that only handles the tax process..

They make it so complex, much like the Federal Tax Code, that no one really knows what to do.

reply to josephf

Perhaps a state by state flat rate?

reply to RockyBB
Cablevision serves some of the highest (telecom) taxed States in the nation.

reply to dcurrey
It was only a matter of time until this was going to happen. The $3 idea was good for launch, but that is it.

I think you will see it more and more in the VoIP world.

reply to josephf

reply to dcurrey
Will this go into effect once we renew I assume?

reply to RockyBB
From Tim's post:

Current Customers

We will honor our agreement with existing customers. All customers who currently have service or order service prior to this being fully implemented will be able to maintain the $3 flat rate “bundled” fee.