Understanding Your Datavo Taxes & Surcharges

When you get your bill in the mail, do you wonder what each tax is for? Here at Datavo, we know this can be difficult at times so here is a brief understanding of what each tax/surcharge covers.

• Universal Lifeline Telephone Surcharge:  Imposed by the CPUC* to help subsidize the fund for Universal Lifeline Telephone Service. It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 1.150% (as of 7/1/12)**.

• CA Relay Service and Communications Devices Fund: Imposed by the CPUC to help provide telecommunications devices to deaf or hearing impaired consumers. It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 0.2% (as of 7/1/12)** .

• CA High Cost Fund-A:  Imposed by the CPUC to provide supplemental revenue to 14 small phone companies to minimize rate disparities of basic phone service between rural and metropolitan areas. It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 0.4% (as of 7/1/12) ** .

• CA High Cost Fund-B: Imposed by the CPUC to provide subsidies to Carriers of Last Resort (COLR's - A carrier that commits or is required by law to provide service to any customer in a service area that requests it, even if it will not be cost effective to the carrier) for providing basic telephone service to residential customers in high-cost areas currently serviced by any Pacific Bell Telephone Company (dba AT&T, Verizon, Cox, etc.). It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 0.3% (as of 7/1/12)** .

• CA Teleconnect Fund (CTF): Imposed by the CPUC to provide a 50% discount on select communications services to libraries, schools, hospitals, and other non-profit organizations. It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 0.079% (as of 7/1/12)** .

• CA Advanced Service Fund: Imposed by the CPUC to provide grants to telephone companies to help bridge the digital divide and bring service to unserved/underserved areas of the state.  It applies to all consumers, business or residential. It is billed monthly at a percentage of 0.14% (as of 7/1/12)**. 

• Number Portability Charge: Local Number Portability provides you the option of keeping your same telephone number when switching from one phone company to another.  It applies to all consumers, business or residential. This fee is a fixed monthly charge of $0.34** that helps telephone companies recover costs of providing the service of  local number portability.

• End User Common Line Charges - EUCL: This is a federally regulated monthly service charge billed by the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) intended to compensate them for the costs of connecting a call to a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) or interxchange carrier (IXC). It applies to all ILEC supplied loops. It is currently $6.50 ** per line.

• Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge:  Imposed by the FCC to help make phone service  affordable and available to all Americans. Congress has mandated that all telephone providers providing interstate services must contribute to this fund.  It is applied to all consumers, business or residential.  The rate fluctuates every quarter and is mandated by the FCC.

• Federal Telecommunications Relay Service Fund (TRS):  Imposed by the FCC to help compensate TRS carriers for providing telephone transmission services that allow speech or hearing impaired consumers to communicate with a person without a speech or hearing disability. It applies to all consumers, business or residential. Carriers are billed for their share of the annual budget monthly.

• Los Angeles Communications Users Tax (CUT): Imposed by the City of Los Angeles, on the following communciations services: wired and wireless communications; intrastate, interstate and international services; ancillary services; VoIP; paging; and private communication services.  It is applied to all consumers, business or residential; at a rate of 9% ** .

• PUC: Imposed by the CPUC on all telecommunications carriers supplying services directly to customers in California. The rate is based on the telecommunications carriers intrastate revenue. 

• E911: imposed by the FCC used to fund enhanced 911 telephone systems and 411 services.  It is applied to all consumers, business or residential; at a rate of 0.5%**. 

*California Public Utilities Commission

** Rates are subject to change at any time.