Taxes, Surcharges & Fees - Illinois

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Federal Excise Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: A federal tax on local telephone services and surcharges.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Federal Universal Service Fund

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: 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.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: State Sales Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T, C, and D

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: A tax levied by a state government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone, Cable, Data

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Simplified Municipal Telecom Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: A tax levied by a state/local government on telephone services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: ST Telecommunications Excise Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: A tax levied by state/local government on telephone services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: ST Universal Service Fund Surcharge – Local

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A ,P

DEFINITION: A surcharge assessed on local service, intrastate regional and intrastate long distance calls. Funds raised by this levy are used to keep basic local phone service affordable for subscribers of telecommunications carriers located in rural and high cost areas within the state.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: State P.U.C. Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: A state imposed tax on phone services which supports Illinois Commerce Commission programs.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: State Infrastructure Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: A fee levied by the state government on the charges for telephone services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: County and City Sales Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T, C, and D

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: A tax levied by a local government on the sale of tangible personal property and/or certain services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone, Cable, Data

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: City Rental Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): D,T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: A rental tax, known as the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax, imposed by the City of Chicago on the rental of personal property within the City. Rental tax applies to the monthly rental/lease charges for items such as modem rentals.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Data and Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: 911 Tax – State, County or City

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: 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 state and local Public Service commissions.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Universal Service Charge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A

DEFINITION: The purpose of this fund is to maintain the affordability of local service rates for customers while allowing rural telephone companies to reduce accesss charges and intra-LATA toll rates, on a revenue-neutral basis, thereby encouraging greater competition.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: NA – not charged

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Subscriber Line Charge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: Monthly recurring charge applied to all phone line, trunk, and PRI services offered pursuant to Astound’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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Port Charge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: 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 a surcharge Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Regulatory Administration Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): T

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Telephone

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Franchise Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: 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.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Regulatory Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: 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.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Amusement Tax

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): C

DEFINITION: An amusement tax is imposed by the City of Chicago and some counties on amusement activities. Amusement includes any paid television programming whether transmitted by wire, cable, fiberoptics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite, or similar means.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Cable Regulatory Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: 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.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Municipal Construction Surcharge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C, D

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: Municipal Construction Surcharge recovers a portion of the expenses Astound 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Data

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Network Access and Maintenance Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): D

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: A fee to defray costs associated with building and maintaining Astound’s fiber rich 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Data

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: PEG Access Fee

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): A,P

DEFINITION: This fee is part of the OVS and Franchise agreement and is passed through to cable subscribers. The fee is to support Public, Educational, and Governmental facilities, equipment and services.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Broadcast Surcharge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Entertainment Surcharge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable

TAXES, FEES & SURCHARGES: Sports Surcharge

FOR Telephone (T), Cable (C), or Data (D): C

IMPOSED ON Customer (C), Astound (A), Astound passed through to Customer (A,P) or Surcharge imposed by Astound (S): S

DEFINITION: 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 Astound assesses and retains.

Location on the Bill where the charge appears in the Tax, Surcharge or Fee Section: Cable