在與美國電話網路業者奮戰二個月之後,收到了第一張帳單,本來覺得一個月的網路費加電話費加起來來三十五美元已經夠貴了,但是還有更離譜的事,聯邦稅一個月竟然高達十八美元,而且內容千奇百怪,列舉如下:
§ Federal Excise Tax:federal tax on intrastate, interstate and international telephone services and surcharges. 跨州電話服務要收稅。
§ Federal Universal:A federal surcharge on interstate and international telephone services to support universal service programs such as the schools and libraries discount program. The Federal USF is also assessed on the Federal Line Charge and the Local Number Portability Charge.為了補貼學校和圖書館的低價電信服務,所以向一般大眾收稅。
§ State Sales Tax:A tax levied by a state government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services such as telephone or cable. 州的銷售稅。
§ State Gross Receipts Tax:A tax levied by a state government on all intrastate telephone services. 另一種州的銷售稅。
§ State Telecom Relay Surcharge:A state surcharge on telephone access lines to support the telephone relay service designed for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. 為了補貼聽障人士的電信服務,所以向一般大眾收稅。
§ 911 Tax:The E911 system utilizes a computerized system to automatically route emergency telephone calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). The enhanced 911 system allows the PSAP operator to automatically see the phone number and address of the person calling. The E911 fee covers the installation and maintenance expenses for the E911 system. All lines (residential and commercial) are subject to a monthly E911 charge per line which is imposed by the respective state and local Public Service commissions. However, the way that the charge is applied varies by state and in some markets vary by county as well. 911裝了一個新的系統可以根據來電顯示判斷住址,所以使用者要付錢。
§ Federal Line Charge:A nationwide charge that is designed to recover a portion of local telephone companies’ costs associated with providing long distance carriers with access to the local phone network. Long distance carriers pay the remainder of the cost. This charge is regulated by the FCC. 本地電話公司和長途電話公司之間的連線要多收費。