What the New York Post doesn't say is that we're paying the cellphone companies' taxes

NY cell phone

So the New York Post wants to stir populist outrage against mobile phone carriers with this bit of "investigative journalism". From PHONE TAXES ARE CELL HELL:

Eleven federal, state and city levies add as much as 33 percent to the cost of New Yorkers' cellphones, a Post analysis found.

A typical cell plan costing $49.99 a month comes with a total tax bill of $10.59 -- a 21.18 percent tax rate that helps give New York the fourth-highest cellphone taxes of any state.

And cheaper plans favored by the frugal and poor are taxed at higher rates.

In GOP-bootlicking fashion, they only are saying a half truth. Why? Because they won't say that mobile phone carriers are passing on their tax responsibilities onto us. From CNet| Supreme Court rejects cell-phone tax case:

The wireless companies, naturally, maintain they should be able to establish a visible separation between the base prices of their services and the fees required by various regulators. States and localities have increasingly been passing laws prohibiting those line items expressly in order to "hide" arguably unpopular taxes and fees from consumers, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile said in their brief to the high court.

And because taxes and fees vary by locale, building them into the base price would make it impossible to advertise one price to all customers nationwide, they contended--and therefore make it harder for consumers to compare prices among wireless carriers.

But state utility regulators have countered that the wireless companies are missing the point: The fees and taxes they impose are generally meant to fall on the wireless carriers themselves, not on consumers. Wireless companies should simply raise their rates to reflect that distinction, they argue.

In other news: Two European companies — a major contractor to the U.S. government and a top cell-phone equipment maker — last year installed an electronic surveillance system for Iran that human rights advocates and intelligence experts say can help Iran target dissidents.

http://dailygotham.com/lizasabater/blog/whatthenewyorkpostdoesn039tsayisthatwe039repayingthecellphonecompanies039taxes
Mouse over the text to select it, then press Ctrl-C to copy it.
0
About author

Liza Sabater is the founder and publisher of The Daily Gotham. You can reach her at nyc.blogdiva@gmail.com.

Liza Sabater's picture



Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
SeregaLyx's picture

Рекомендую удивительный подарок на День Рождения!

Недавно у дочки был день рождения. И я ей подарил - [url=http://www.avto-card.ru/]авто-открытку[/url]!
Это обычная Газель, а с двух сторон установлены баннеры с поздравлениями!
Если кто-то хочет порадовать и удивить своих близких - обратите внимание на avto-card.ru.
Очень впечатляюще и просто удивительно. Рекомендую!!!

Not yet rated.
Buy Anavar's picture

buy anavar

Your site is this what i'm looking for, i have bookmarked it for future referrence, best regards

Not yet rated.
freewRone's picture

cjCyGjIVti

freewRone's picture

CUPuIAoAvt

freewRone's picture

kqcvdbqlbY

byncevobiania's picture

eKIWVEHARv

DestrYna's picture

полезное про недвижимость в Праге

Я тут искал информацию про недвижимость в чехии.
Нашел интересный сайи - позвонил.
Описали полную картину про ситуацию с недвижимостью, а также вообще с доступом в Шенген.
Может быть, кому-то будет нужно.
Всем удачных выходных! =)

Not yet rated.
byncevobiania's picture

cWUvRbDqtB

byncevobiania's picture

TjrZsBHatO

byncevobiania's picture

RVvAkvKrFR

byncevobiania's picture

bufADCyotb

byncevobiania's picture

zVjPnMtfyB

byncevobiania's picture

xISqehWCtl

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Upcoming events

  • No upcoming events available

In keeping with the "city that never sleeps" tradition, keep up to date with our daily syndication digest.



Powered by FeedBlitz

The Publisher
Liza Sabater

Fresh dissent served daily
culturekitchen

Grassroots News and
Activism for New Yorkers

Daily Gotham

Feminist Bloggers Network
BlogSheroes

A new kind of voyeurism
Voogling

Art + Code + Philosophy
Potatoland.blog

Got any dirt, tips, leads or money for us? Then drop us a line or two at editors [at] dailygotham [dot] com or use our general contact form to reach everybody in the editorial team ASAP.

User login