USTelecom Welcomes House Bill to Repeal the Federal Excise Tax
Background: Today Representatives John Lewis (D-Ga.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Penn.) introduced the Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2009 (H.R. 3011) to repeal the federal excise tax on communications services. In 2006, after several federal court defeats, the IRS stopped enforcing the toll portion of the tax. However the remaining portion of the tax still applies to customers who subscribe solely to local phone service.
The following statement is from Walter B. McCormick Jr., President and CEO of USTelecom:
“We applaud Congressmen Lewis, Heller, Connolly and Thompson for introducing this important bill to completely repeal the federal excise tax on communications services. While the courts have found much of the tax to be unenforceable, consumers who subscribe to standalone telephone service – most often lower income or elderly customers – are still penalized by this regressive, outdated tax. There is strong bipartisan support for repealing the federal excise tax on communications and we will work closely with Congress to end the tax this year.”
The United States Telecom Association, USTelecom, is the premier broadband trade association representing service providers
and suppliers for the telecom industry. USTelecom represents companies offering a wide range of services across the communications
platforms, including voice, video and data over local exchange, long distance, wireless, Internet and cable services.