Federal Phone taxes

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just got my phone bill:

Verizon monthly service $12.94
6 different tax items total $6.95
bill total: $19.89

Is this insane or what? Taxes add up to 54% of the base amount. What’s the limit? WTF are they doing with the money?

This reminds me that the Government of DC spends something like 70% of my property taxes just on paying interest on the debt they have accumulated.

This is just outrageous. Can someone explain it to me? How can anyone believe this is not insane?

2

I dunno how your tax load breaks down, but part of the federal tax on it was initially instituted as a “temporary luxury tax” to finance the Spanish-American war, which was fought way back in 1898.

I believe it has been fooled with a few times and is currently levied as 3% tax on all telecommunications services.

3

The master himself has covered this before, but he really doesn’t answer the question in great detail.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_335a.html