New Sales tax discussion

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 01, 2004 Posts: 10

I was just coming here to say add NY to the list but I see someone beat me to it.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 1

I have had Vonage for four months now...and, each month the bill gets higher and higher. The last three months (I won't count the first month) new taxes keep popping up. I never received a notice that this would happen! Grrr!

In April, my billing was as follows:

Residential Basic 500 for _____________ (20/Apr-19/May) $14.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
FET Tax $0.45
Total Amount $17.42

In May, my billing was as follows:

Residential Basic 500 for ____________ (20/May-19/Jun) $14.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Federal Excise Tax $0.52
County 911 Fee $0.50
Total Amount $17.99

In June, my bill was as follows:

Residential Basic 500 for _____________ (20/Jun-19/Jul) $14.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Sales Tax $1.23
Federal Excise Tax $0.52
County 911 Fee $0.50
Local Transit Tax $0.08
Total Amount $19.30

Notice first they started charging County 911 Fee...then, they added in Sales Tax and Local Transit Tax (whatever that is)...

What next is the government going to rip off from us? I'm sick of it! This free country sure is getting expensive. I started using Vonage because it is better for our already pathetic budget...thanks to prices going up, but our paychecks not going up. And...now the government is finding a way to get their paws on more of our money.

p.s. I live in Texas...

Posts: 176 · Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:12 pm Post subject:

Internet phone bills may rise

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/21/technology/wireless_phones.reut/

Consumers who use wireless or Internet-based telephones could see their bills rise, as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved Wednesday a new plan for funding phone service subsidies.

The FCC ordered Internet telephone services like Vonage Holdings Corp. (Charts) to contribute part of their revenue into the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service to rural and low-income areas as well as communications services and Internet access for schools, hospitals and libraries.

The agency also increased the amount wireless telephone providers would have to pay into the fund. The move may lead to higher bills for wireless and Internet telephone customers because the companies typically pass the fees on to customers

Posts: 57 · Full Forum Member Joined: Sep 03, 2005 Posts: 57

Our governments are crazy. 20% of my VG bill is the result of some sort of taxes. I absolutely will not use VG to make any billable long distance calls. Whatever minute rate Vg charges you, our government adds 8% on top. I highly recommend everyone to make your international calls via the internet. Some of them out there are some thing like $0.02 per minute and that's it. No taxes added!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 30, 2006 Posts: 4

Woo hoo. For a minute there I thought Texas would avoid the dreaded "Sales Tax", especially since I asked Vonage two months back and they told me there is no sales tax for Texas. Lo and behold, I see it.

Hmmm $5 tax on a $25 service? 20% tax? That doesn't include the ISP taxes, and the taxes on the money I make. That's a triple tax.

What is the value of Vonage over Sunrocket? I have good bandwidth, never need to call Vonage support. I might as well jump ship to a cheaper Voip provider.

Residential Premium Unlimited Plan (29/Jun-28/Jul) $24.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Sales Tax $1.69
County 911 Fee $0.50
Total Amount $29.16

Posts: 533 · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:48 pm Post subject: Re: TAX Calculator up!

rclslick99 wrote:

After emailing customer service at Vonage to find out new taxes for my state, I received a reply with a

TAX CALULATOR

here it is, enjoy!

http://www.vonage.com/help_knowledgeBase_article.php?article=586&category=0

I'm in PA and my June 1 bill had no state sales tax, my July 1 bill did. I just checked out the calculator you posted a link to and noticed if I select the $24.99 plan, no state/local sales tax shows up, if I select the $14.99 option (which I actually have) it does show up, but it's $.10 higher than what I has actually charged. I'm wondering about the accuracy of that calculator.

Anyone else in PA get hit with sales tax on their July 1 bill?

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 14, 2006 Posts: 1

Hey has anyone see this one:
Residential Basic 500 Plan for 1-(303)-464-8758 (13/Aug-12/Sep) $14.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Sales Tax $1.20
County Transit Tax $0.17
County Football District Tax $0.02
County District Tax $0.02
Total Amount $18.38

County Football District Tax?? This is coming from the local county where I live? (Broomfield, CO)
So now because I have Voip, I'm paying for football... good!
Wow all these new County taxes S U C K!
-gax

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:38 pm Post subject:

gaxunil wrote:

County Football District Tax $0.02

I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound unsympathetic (I agree that this tax is ridiculous), but.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

That has to be the silliest, most asinine telcom tax I've ever seen!

And I'm from Maine (our license plates say "Vacationland", but a common item purchased around here is a sticker that you place over it, in the same font, that says "Taxationland"). Wink

Thankfully, our local taxes haven't hit Vonage. Yet. I need to ask to see my wife's grandfather's bill to see what local taxes are here. I'm sure I'll be crying when Taxationland hits Vonage.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 19, 2006 Posts: 10

Wow. I was happy to hear that the Federal Excise tax would be eliminated, so I figured my Vonage bill would be a little lower. Somehow, our courageous politicians increased it for me! Bolded is this list of NEW taxes for my most recent bill:

Premium Unlimited Plan - 24.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee - $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery - $0.99
Sales Tax - $2.31
State Excise Tax - $0.70
County MCTD Surcharge Sec.v- 186 $0.17
County Transit Tax - $0.11
State Franchise Surcharge Sec. 184 - $0.10
County MCTD Surcharge Sec. 184 - $0.04
Total Amount - $30.40

I've got two Country MCTD (what?) Surcharge taxes. When do these politicians vote on this stuff? How is 20% in taxes being applied in an election year?

Posts: 66 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jul 20, 2006 Posts: 66

hunter371 wrote:

Wow. I was happy to hear that the Federal Excise tax would be eliminated, so I figured my Vonage bill would be a little lower. Somehow, our courageous politicians increased it for me! Bolded is this list of NEW taxes for my most recent bill:

Premium Unlimited Plan - 24.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee - $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery - $0.99
Sales Tax - $2.31
State Excise Tax - $0.70
County MCTD Surcharge Sec.v- 186 $0.17
County Transit Tax - $0.11
State Franchise Surcharge Sec. 184 - $0.10
County MCTD Surcharge Sec. 184 - $0.04
Total Amount - $30.40

I've got two Country MCTD (what?) Surcharge taxes. When do these politicians vote on this stuff? How is 20% in taxes being applied in an election year?

What state do you live in?