Young adults often have a lot of phone numbers – home phone, cell phones, IM devices, Blackberries, broadband data connections, online gaming numbers - and more.
One of the taxes you pay every time you make a phone call is goes into the Universal Service Fund (USF), which provides internet at discounted rates to schools, libraries and rural healthcare providers. The current USF tax is based on a fair “pay-for-what-you-use” system. You pay a percentage of your monthly phone bill to the Universal Service Fund based on how much long distance you use. If you use less, you pay less.
Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering changing the fair “pay-for-what-you-use” system to a “monthly flat-fee.” This flat-fee plan would hurt millions of consumers – including many young adults just like you. Under the proposed change, even if you make no long distance calls, you still have to pay a fee.
And if you are going to college (or soon will be) you would get zapped twice by the proposed USF changes. According to a recent Keep USF Fair Coalition study, U.S. colleges and universities could be left holding the bag for hundreds of millions dollars more in USF taxes And that would mean:
- Cuts in phone service for students and faculty
- Tuition hikes
- Reduced student safety on campus
- Diversion of resources from technology investments/other programs
The good news is that you can do something to stop this!
Take the time today to speak out against the proposed USF phone-tax change. Join other young adult consumers in making sure that today’s common-sense system for the Universal Service Fund tax remains in place. Send a message to Congress opposing higher USF taxes on your phone lines and other connections.
How much would you end up paying under the proposed USF changes? Use our calculator to determine how much higher USF taxes could cost you!
