[asterisk-biz] Federal and State Surcharges and Taxes

[Peter Beckman]

On Wed, 6 Aug 2008, Trixter aka Bret McDanel wrote:

> On Wed, 2008-08-06 at 02:22 -0400, Alex Balashov wrote:
>> I am curious as to the source of such keen clairvoyance that you were
>> able to determine that the original poster was inquiring about
>> surcharges & taxes applicable to a VoIP provider.
>
> If you just get pri lines or whatever and that is all you do there is no
> federal anything - one of the exemptions I mentioned since you wouldnt be
> using IP.

  Bret, thanks for the informative reply earlier.  While I believe most
  people doing VoIP related things avoid the federal taxes and such, I'm
  curious what you know about state and local taxes that may be applicable?

  While I have searched and googled at length, and found that indeed federal
  taxes are not applicable to my use, I've not found anything definitive
  about taxes levied by states or local government when it comes to
  VoIP-enabled services or VoIP-switched calls, nor when taxes may be
  applicable.  For example, what determines the tax law?  Is it where:

     * The server/switch that handles the call is
     * The caller is
     * The caller's phone number is according to the LERG
     * The callee is
     * The callee's phone number is according to the LERG
     * The company is incorporated
     * The company's headquarters are
     * The service provider who originates the call is
     * The service provider who terminates the call is

  It's a complicated question, I realize.  Not only that, but what if the
  originator and terminator pay the taxes, wouldn't _I_ paying taxes on a
  call that I touched be double taxation?  Not looking for legal advice,
  just a general sense of the state of things, at least in the US, at the
  moment.

Beckman
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Peter Beckman                                                  Internet Guy
beckman at angryox.com                                 http://www.angryox.com/
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