Summary of Content Changes
Federal
- On July 24, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in the Consumers’ Research v. FCC case. The ruling declared the contribution mechanism of the Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) to be unconstitutional. Our friends at Marashlian & Donahue (The CommLaw Group) have prepared an excellent article detailing everything you need to know about this case.
- https://commlawgroup.com/2024/fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals-declares-fccs-universal-service-fee-unconstitutional/
- The Fifth Circuit's decision is now law, but only within the Fifth Circuit, comprised of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. As a result, the law governing FUSF currently varies by state.
- The litigants in this case have previously lost similar cases in both the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits, and the Supreme Court had declined to review those Circuits' rulings. With the most recent decision generating a split between Circuits, Consumers’ Research has filed a supplemental brief with the Supreme Court requesting a rehearing on the original denial. It seems likely that conditions are now ripe for SCOTUS to grant review of the case given the importance of Universal Service Program and a split between Circuits. The FCC has not yet filed anything in response to this decision, such as a an appeal or motion for stay.
- This is certainly a very complicated situation, so we recommend that all of our telecommunications clients consult with their tax advisors to determine their preferred tax position in light of this new law. We have no immediately plans to change the applicability of FUSF within our system. We will continue to monitor the case and other information from the FCC for any developments that may warrant a content update.
- As always, we are available to assist with the configuration of custom rules to accommodate your preferred tax position.
Saskatchewan
- Effective August 1, 2024, the Saskatchewan Sask911 Fee has increased from $2.08 to $2.14.
Kentucky
- In order to better align our data with the Modified Judgement issued in Bellsouth Telecomm. v. Farris, we have modified the configuration of the two state-level Gross Revenues Taxes in Kentucky.
- First, both taxes have been changed from passthrough prohibited to passthrough optional. Kentucky Revised Statutes section 136.616(3) states that "the provider shall not collect the tax directly from the purchaser or separately state the tax on the bill to the purchaser." However, the Modified Judgement prohibits enforcement of that section, as well as the state law section that sets forth a penalty for violations of section 136.616(3).
- Second, both taxes' descriptions have been changed from "KY GROSS REVENUES TAX" to "KY GROSS REVENUES TAX RECOVERY SURCHARGE." The Modified Judgement provides that sellers may recover the cost of the Gross Revenues Taxes using line items on customers' bills, but only if the line item does not suggest that the Gross Revenues Tax is a direct tax on the customer.
Texas
- Within the August 2024 content, we are making a few significant changes to the structure of the local Texas 911 Emergency Service Fee data. Previously, the Emergency Communications District (ECD), Municipal Emergency Communications District (MECD), and Regional Planning Commission (RPC) 911 fees have been captured at the county and city levels, using county and city geography.
- Going forward, these 911 fees will be captured at the district level, with precise district-level geography and authorities.
- Adding this new layer of GIS to the entire state of Texas has resulted in the expiration of all geocodes in the state, and insertions of a new geocodes that include all previous tax districts in addition to the new 911 GIS layer. A cross reference between the expired geocodes and new geocodes is available in the tables section of this article.
- Additionally, to comply with Tex. Admin Code Title 1, Part 12, Section 255.4, we have expanded the 911 content to include a new record for High Capacity Trunk/PRI devices. For the RPCs, this fee is set by regulation to be 24 times the regular business fee.
South Carolina
- Effective August 1, 2024, Anderson County has increased its local 911 fee from $0.60 per access line to $1.00 per access line.
Alabama
- Effective August 1, 2024, the city of Skyline has made several changes to its use tax rates. The general use tax rate has increased from 2% to 3%. The use tax for manufacturing machinery has increased from 0.5% to 3%. The use tax rate for automobiles has increased from 0.5% to 3%. Within the police jurisdiction of the city of Skyline, the new use tax rates will be half of the new use rates within the corporate limits of the city. As a result, the general, manufacturing machinery, and automobile use tax rates have all increased to 1.5% within the police jurisdiction.
Code Changes
All Code Table Changes are summarized in the tables below.
Geocodes
Texas Geocode Xref
Authorities
PS Codes
Tax Types
Tax Type Classes
Rate Changes
