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New York taxes, surcharges & fees
Taxes, surcharges and fees defined
Review our guide to understanding the taxes listed on your services bill in New York, including district-specific fees.
Defined in the tax definitions chart are the who, what, and where for each type of charge that may appear on your bill. Also, a legend shows the key codes that represent which type of service and who is being charged.
Legend
Key codes for the Tax Definitions Guide represent the type of service and who is being charged.
| Key | Tax Type | Key | Imposed On |
|---|---|---|---|
| T | Telephone (Voice) | C | Customer |
| C | Cable (Video) | R | RCN |
| D | Data (Internet) | R/P | RCN passed through to Customer |
| M | Mobile | S | Surcharge imposed by RCN |
Also in this region
See the Tax Definitions Guide for each state in this region:
New York tax, surcharge & fee guide
| Tax, fee or surcharge | Tax, fee or surcharge for T, C, D, or M | Imposed on | Definition | Location on the bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge, or Fee section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Excise Tax | T | C | A federal tax on local telephone services and surcharges. | Telephone |
| Federal Universal Service Fund | T, M | R/P | 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 may also be assessed on phone surcharges. | Telephone, Mobile |
| State Sales Tax | T, C, D, M | C | A tax levied by a state government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services. | Telephone, Cable, Data, Mobile |
| County or City Sales Tax | T, C, D, M | C | A tax levied by a local government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services. | Telephone, Cable, Data, Mobile |
| State Gross Receipts Tax | T, M | R/P | A tax levied by a state government on telephone services. | Telephone, Mobile |
| School District Tax | T, M | R/P | School districts with territory in cities with populations of 125,000 or less may impose this tax. This tax may be levied in addition to a similar city or county tax or a city or county sales tax. The tax is imposed on all local or long distance intrastate telecommunication charges. | Telephone, Mobile |
| State Excise Tax | T, M | R/P | A tax levied by the state government on telephone services and telecommunication services. | Telephone, Mobile |
| MTA Surcharge | T, M | R/P | A surcharge which is assessed on NY state gross receipts and NY state excise taxes. It applies only to the 12 county Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. The receipts from the surcharge are earmarked for the Mass Transportation Operating Assistance Fund which supports public transportation. | Telephone, Mobile |
| City Excise Tax | T, M | R/P | This is an excise tax New York City imposes on the provider of utility services for the privilege of exercising their franchise, holding property or doing business in New York City. | Telephone, Mobile |
| 911 Tax – State, County or City | T, M | C | The E911 system utilizes a 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 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 Public Service commissions. | Telephone, Mobile |
| Franchise Fee – Telephone | T | R/P | A fee paid to a municipality to allow use of the public streets and rights-of-way and to provide telephone service within that municipality. This is a contractual agreement with the town/city and is usually assessed on all telephone services. | Telephone |
| Targeted Accessibility Fund | T | R | The Targeted Accessibility Fund (TAF) was established to fund Lifeline, emergency services (911), and telecommunication relay service (TRS) for the hearing impaired. The fee is assessed on intrastate gross revenue and carrier access charges. The fee is not passed on to customers. | Telephone |
| Subscriber Line Charge | T | S | Monthly recurring charge applied to all phone line, trunk, and PRI services offered pursuant to RCN’s tariffs and/or price lists. There are no exemptions associated with this product charge. Rates are subject to change. This charge is not government mandated nor a tax or fee imposed on you by the government. It is a surcharge RCN assesses and retains. | Telephone |
| Port Charge | T | S | This surcharge is assessed only on commercial customers using ISDN and DS-1 products. It is a recurring charge for the use of the port which interfaces and connects the local loop to a high-speed network. This charge is not government mandated nor a tax or fee imposed on you by the government. It is surcharge RCN assesses and retains. | Telephone |
| Regulatory Administration Fee | T | S | This fee is assessed to recover the cost of complying with certain federal impositions related to voice service. It is a monthly charge to defray a portion of the fees paid to support government programs such as Telecommunications Relay Service and Local Number Portability, along with other charges assessed by the FCC, and additional indirect costs associated with administering and complying with government programs. This charge is not a customer tax or fee assessed by a government agency. It is a surcharge RCN assesses and retains. | Telephone |
| Franchise Fee – Cable | C | R/P | A fee paid to a municipality to allow use of the public streets and rights-of-way and operate a cable television system within that municipality. This is a contractual agreement with the town/city and is normally assessed on all cable revenue. | Cable |
| OVS Fee – Cable | C | R/P | A fee paid to a municipality to allow use of the public streets and rights-of-way and operate a cable television system within that municipality. This is a contractual agreement with the town/city and is normally assessed on all cable revenue. | Cable |
| Cable Regulatory Fee | C | R/P | This fee is an annual assessment imposed by the FCC pursuant to Public Law 103-66, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. The FCC uses these monies to offset costs associated with its enforcement, public service, international and policy and rulemaking activities. | Cable |
| PEG Access Fee | C | R/P | The NYC PEG Access fee provides:for the upgrade, purchase and/or rental of public access facilities and equipment for the City of New York, to assist in defraying the operating expenses of the NYC Community Access Organization (CAO) and the expenses of the activities that the CAO may undertake,for grants to qualified persons for the development of programming for the Public Channels, for the support the programming initiatives of the CAO, for grants to independent programmers. | Cable |
| Municipal Construction Surcharge | D | S | Municipal Construction Surcharge recovers a portion of the expenses RCN incurs from government mandated relocation of its facilities that are in the public rights-of-way to prevent interference with street repairs, public construction projects or other activities required for public health, safety or convenience.This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. | Data |
| Network Access and Maintenance Fee | D | S | A fee to defray costs associated with building and maintaining RCN’s fiber powered broadband network, as well as the costs of expanding network capacity to support the continued increase in customers’ average bandwidth consumption. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed on you by the government. This is a fee that RCN assesses and retains. | Data |
| Broadcast Surcharge | C | S | Recovery of a portion of the rapidly increasing costs charged by local broadcast TV stations for carriage rights. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. | Cable |
| Entertainment Surcharge | C | S | Recovery of a portion of the rapidly escalating charges levied by entertainment networks such as Viacom, AMC, Scrippts Networks and others. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. | Cable |
| Sports Surcharge | C | S | Recovery of a portion of the rapidly increasing costs of sports related programming. This fee is not a government mandated tax or fee imposed by the government. This is a fee RCN assesses and retains. | Cable |
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