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S1392......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
TELECOMMUNICATIONS - Amends existing law to provide that certain surcharges
shall be imposed only on customers of mobile telecommunications services
with a place of primary use in Idaho; and to provide that all provisions of
the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act shall apply to the
imposition of such surcharges.
02/07 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/08 Rpt prt - to St Aff
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1392
BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE; AMENDING SECTION 56-904, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN SURCHARGES SHALL BE IMPOSED ONLY ON CUSTOMERS OF
4 MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE WITH A PLACE OF PRIMARY USE IN IDAHO, TO
5 PROVIDE THAT ALL PROVISIONS OF THE FEDERAL MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
6 SOURCING ACT SHALL APPLY TO THE IMPOSITION OF SUCH SURCHARGES AND TO
7 DEFINE TERMS; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND PROVIDING APPLICATION.
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
9 SECTION 1. That Section 56-904, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
10 amended to read as follows:
11 56-904. RECOVERY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE REVENUE REDUCTIONS --
12 ADMINISTRATION. (1) The Idaho public utilities commission shall determine and
13 impose a uniform statewide monthly surcharge on each end user's business, res-
14 idential and wireless access service. The surcharge shall be an amount suffi-
15 cient to reimburse each carrier of residential basic local exchange service
16 for the total amount of telephone assistance discounts provided as well as the
17 carrier's and the administrator's expenses of administering the plan. Such
18 surcharge shall be effective concurrent with the discounts given eligible sub-
19 scribers. The surcharge shall be explicitly stated on end user billings but
20 shall not be imposed on eligible subscribers.
21 (2) The Idaho public utilities commission may adopt rules or issue orders
22 necessary to receive matching federal low income telephone assistance and to
23 implement the Idaho telephone assistance program, including procedures for
24 adjustment and true-up of the subscriber surcharge. The commission may con-
25 tract with a neutral third party to collect the surcharge, distribute assis-
26 tance revenues, and perform other tasks as assigned.
27 (3) All carriers of telecommunications services shall remit the assis-
28 tance surcharge revenues to the fund administrator designated by the commis-
29 sion on a monthly basis, unless less frequent remittances are authorized by
30 order of the public utilities commission. The administrator shall distribute
31 telecommunication service assistance program revenues monthly to eligible
32 telecommunication carriers in an amount that equals their costs of administer-
33 ing the program and the monthly discount provided to eligible subscribers.
34 (4) The surcharge imposed in subsection (1) of this section, when col-
35 lected from customers of mobile telecommunications service, shall be imposed
36 only on customers with a place of primary use in Idaho. All provisions of the
37 federal mobile telecommunications sourcing act, 4 U.S.C. sections 116 through
38 126, shall apply to the imposition of such surcharge on mobile telecommunica-
39 tions service. As used in this subsection, the terms "place of primary use,"
40 "customer" and "mobile telecommunications service" shall be as defined in 4
41 U.S.C. section 124.
2
1 SECTION 2. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after July
2 1, 2002, and shall apply to bills issued after August 1, 2002.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11857
Passed by Congress in 2000 (PL1O6-252) the Mobile Telecommunications
Sourcing Act (MTSA) develops national, uniform rules for ‘sourcing’
calls- that is, assigning which state and local jurisdictions have
the power to tax them. It does not change tax rates or bases under
existing state laws and local ordinances.
The legislation recognizes that rules based upon wireline
communications do not work for mobile telephones. For example, cell
phone calls sometimes cross local and state boundaries during a call.
Also, the ‘two out of three’ rule that determines when states have
nexus to tax a call (origination, termination and billing) do not
always work for mobile calls.
A customer who signs up for wireless service will designate a
primary business address (if the phone is primarily used for
business) or a residential address. The applicable taxes at that
address - called the place of primary use - will be levied on that
customer regardless of where those calls originate or terminate.
Under the existing rules, companies had to track each call and sort
out which jurisdiction was entitled to tax. These new rules will
simplify the billing process and ensure that calls are not subject
to multiple taxation, and that they do not escape taxation
altogether.
The state will lose revenue from out-of-state customers ‘roaming’
in their states due to the federal pre-emption. This revenue will
be lost regardless of whether states pass this legislation or not.
However, failure to pass this legislation will prevent states from
picking up the new revenue from in-state customers that ‘roam’ in
other states.
The only tax currently levied on cell phone calls is the tax levied
by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in Idaho Code §56-904.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
CONTACT: Roy Eiguren Elizabeth Criner
Verizon Wireless Qwest
(388-1313) (385-8692)
Skip Smyser Ron Williams
AT&T Wireless Sprint
(342-0777) (344-0077)
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1392