Some of these fees are, indeed, paid to the government. That does not mean they are a tax, in the same sense that (as mentioned elsewhere) a building permit is not a tax, but is still required by, and paid to, the government.
I'm not trying to excuse Verizon for not including them in their overall pricing, but these two in particular:
- Fed Universal Service Charge
- Regulatory Charge
are both paid to the government, and variable based on usage.
Edit: I will also note that Verizon has a $3.50 per-line fixed line item called "Admin & Telco Recovery Charge" that is utter BS.
> Some of these fees are, indeed, paid to the government. That does not mean they are a tax
It actually means exactly that. A building permit is also a tax. If it is paid to the government (any government of any level) by force of law it is a tax; calling taxes "fees" doesn't make them any more not taxes.
If they said all "taxes and other government fees" that would be better, I suppose. But they don't say that, and their current fees aren't all government originating, ultimately making this price lock completely meaningless.
I'm not trying to excuse Verizon for not including them in their overall pricing, but these two in particular:
- Fed Universal Service Charge
- Regulatory Charge
are both paid to the government, and variable based on usage.
Edit: I will also note that Verizon has a $3.50 per-line fixed line item called "Admin & Telco Recovery Charge" that is utter BS.