The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has scrubbed a scheduled vote from its January meeting agenda to levy a tax on text messaging after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that such messaging is not taxable.
In the ruling, the FCC said text messaging is an “information service,” not a telecommunications service, and therefore not subject to taxes or surcharges under California state law. The Federal Telecommunications Act limits state authority over information services.
“Prior to this FCC ruling,” the CPUC wrote in a statement posted on Twitter, “text messaging was not a classified service under federal law. … In light of the FCC’s action, assigned Commissioner Carla J. Peterman has withdrawn from the CPUC’s Jan. 10, 2019, Voting Meeting agenda the draft decision … which proposed to clarify that text messaging service should be subject to the statutory surcharge requirement.”
Here is an update to the #texting surcharge proposal before @californiapuc. pic.twitter.com/6QziYqQKXY
— California PUC (@californiapuc) December 15, 2018
California state regulators had proposed to charge cell phone users a fee for text messaging as a means of collecting taxpayer money to pay for programs to make phone service cheaper to low-income residents, the San Jose Mercury News reported. – READ MORE