New York Tribunal Rules FUSF Fees Not Subject to Sales Tax on Telecom Services

• New York Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled FUSF fees are not subject to sales tax.
• Tribunal reversed the administrative law judge’s decision.
• FUSF fees are derived from nontaxable interstate and international services.
• State cannot tax federal regulatory surcharges on nontaxable services.
• Time Warner Cable provides VoIP services and recovers FUSF fees from customers.
• FUSF contributions are based on revenue from interstate services.
• New York State Department of Taxation and Finance initially asserted $7.3 million in additional sales tax.
• After a conciliation conference, the amount was reduced to $6.7 million.
• ALJ initially denied the taxpayer’s petition, considering FUSF fees as part of taxable bundled services.
• Tribunal determined FUSF fees are receipts of nontaxable services and not subject to sales tax.

Source: grantthornton.com

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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