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Taxes, Fees, and Surcharges

TAXES, FEES AND SURCHARGES

PenTeleData’s rates and charges for service are exclusive of the following taxes, fees and surcharges.

Taxes, fees and surcharges include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Applicable federal, state, local, and foreign sales, use, excise, utility, gross receipts and value added taxes
  • Tax-like charges to recover charges PenTeleData is required or permitted by a governmental or quasi-governmental authority to collect from others or pay to others in support of statutory or regulatory funds or programs
  • All other tax-like charges that are imposed or operate like taxes, but are not directly referred to as taxes
  • Any tax imposed by an authority on the benefits of a promotion offered by PenTeleData involving services or goods of a third party as well as all other taxes
  • A tax-related surcharge to recover a tax or fee imposed in a jurisdiction which levies, or asserts a claim of right to levy:
    • A gross receipts tax, a license tax, or other tax-like charge on PenTeleData’s gross receipts, revenues or operations; and
    • A tax on interstate access charges incurred by PenTeleData for access to telephone exchanges based on the amount paid for interstate access charges; and
    • A Property Surcharge which allows PenTeleData to recover a portion of the property tax it pays to state and local jurisdictions; and
    • A Cost Recovery Fee which allows PenTeleData to recover regulatory fees and expenses incurred by PenTeleData such as FCC regulatory fees, federal regulatory fees to fund programs, various State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) fees, various state business licenses, and various state annual regulatory fees; and
    • Franchise Cost Recovery Fees which allow PenTeleData to recover local government franchise fees and right-of-way costs incurred for the use of the public right-of-way; and
  • An Administrative Expense Fee to recover a portion of internal costs and expenses incurred by PenTeleData to implement, administer, and comply with federal regulations and programs.

All taxes, tax-like charges and the tax-related surcharges are referred to collectively as "Tax(es)."

  • PenTeleData will assess all applicable taxes and the customer will be responsible for paying these taxes.

If PenTeleData collects Taxes and a challenged Tax is found to have been invalid and unenforceable, and if the amounts collected were retained by PenTeleData or delivered over to the jurisdiction and returned to PenTeleData, PenTeleData, in its sole discretion, may reduce service rates for a fixed period of time in the future in order to flow-through to customers an amount equivalent to the amounts collected, credit or refund such amounts to affected customers (less its reasonable administrative costs), or negotiate an arrangement with the jurisdiction to provide a future benefit for customers in that jurisdiction.

  • PenTeleData reserves the right to collect any applicable Taxes retroactively.

If the Customer provides PenTeleData with a duly authorized exemption certificate, PenTeleData will exempt the Customer in accordance with law, effective on the date PenTeleData receives the properly executed certificate.

  • There are some charges that are not eligible for exemption.

If the Customer is required by the laws of any foreign tax jurisdiction to withhold income or profit taxes from a payment, within 90 days of the withholding, the Customer shall provide PenTeleData with official tax certificates documenting remittance of the taxes.

  • The tax certificates shall be in a form sufficient to document qualification of the taxes for the foreign tax credit allowable against PenTeleData’s U.S. corporation income tax, and shall be accompanied by an English translation.
  • Upon receipt of the tax certificate, PenTeleData will issue the Customer a credit for the amounts represented.

More detailed information regarding applicable federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges is provided below:

Federal, state and local governments assess a variety of taxes and surcharges. PenTeleData collects the required taxes and remits the appropriate amounts to the taxing agencies. There are several types of federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges that apply to services sold by PenTeleData including:

  • Federal Universal Service Fund Surcharge (FUSF) – see below section on FUSF for more detail
  • Federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges – see below section on taxes for more detail
  • Other surcharges – see below section on other surcharges for more detail

The information contained in this document is for reference only and is subject to change without notice. It is not intended to replace or supersede any Federal, State or Local laws and regulations. Updated information with respect to changes in Federal, State and Local taxes can be obtained from the respective governmental agencies.

FEDERAL UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND (FUSF)

The Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) surcharge is billed at the FUSF rate established by the FCC. The rate changes from time to time, generally on a quarterly basis. It is a regulatory charge, not a tax.

As of the last publication date, the current FUSF surcharge for this quarter is equal to 24.4 % of all applicable charges appearing on a Customer's invoice. The FUSF surcharge applies to telecommunications services subject to direct regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as well as to interconnected VoIP. A Customer will not be required to pay the FUSF if it demonstrates to the Company's reasonable satisfaction that it is acquiring the Company's services for resale, i.e., not for its own internal use, and is contributing directly into the government's Universal Service funding programs.

The FUSF will: (i) be calculated after the application of promotional and other discounts; (ii) not be eligible to receive promotional or any other discounts; (iii) be calculated based upon the rates and charges applicable to the Customer's total interstate and international service, unless otherwise specified; (iv) apply to tax-like and/or tax-related surcharges as defined or described herein; and (v) not apply to calls using Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) or to calls originated by certified Customers with hearing or speech impairments.

Universal Service is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program designed to ensure affordable access to telecommunications services to low-income customers, rural areas, school and libraries, and rural healthcare facilities. The FUSF was established by Congress in order to promote and encourage telecommunications infrastructure and service availability nationwide. The FCC is the agency responsible for the regulation of domestic interstate and U.S.-to-international telecommunications services.

All telecommunications providers that offer interstate and international voice and data, private line, and other regulated services in the United States are required by the FCC to contribute on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis to the FUSF.

This includes customers whose circuits with PenTeleData have only one end-point in the United States, even if that circuit is being cross-connected by the customer ultimately to terminate internationally.

Interstate circuits have FUSF applied to 100% of the revenue if both ends of the circuit are within the United States.

International circuits have FUSF applied to 50% of the revenue when only one end-point is in the United States.

Taxes generally are assessed on the FUSF surcharge. It is important to understand that the FUSF surcharge is not a tax. It is a charge that the government imposes on telecommunications carriers on the voice and data revenues they collect. The FCC allows carriers to recover the cost of the surcharge from its end-user customers. Thus, the FUSF surcharge is not considered a tax and must be taxed as normal revenues.

FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES, FEES AND SURCHARGES

BILLED IN ADDITION TO FUSF

Below is a summary list of the various federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges that PenTeleData bills to its customers in addition to FUSF addressed above. Most of these charges are imposed directly on the customer and are collected and remitted by PenTeleData as an agent for the taxing authority.

  • Federal Excise Tax
  • State, County, City and Special District Sales Taxes
  • State and Local Telecommunications Taxes
  • E-911 Fees
  • Gross Receipts Tax Surcharges
  • State Universal Service Fund Surcharges \
  • State Regulatory Fees
  • State and Local Right of Way Fees/Franchise Fees
  • Special Taxes and Fees

In some situations, certain customers may be exempt from certain taxes and governmental surcharges. This is usually in the case of customers who are reselling the services they purchase or customers who are exempt charitable, government or religious organizations

PenTeleData does not determine a customer's tax-exempt status. It is the customer's responsibility to advise PenTeleData of its tax-exempt status.

PenTeleData will bill tax and surcharges until proper notice of exempt status and properly executed exemption documentation is provided.

Combined federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges can range from 0-45+%.