Telephone Bill Tax Intelligence Test (HARD VERSION) Return to the Easy Version 10% Right ---Politician.  20% Right ---FCC Commissioner.  30% Right ---Rocket Scientist.  35% Right ---Brain Surgeon. 90% Right -- Teletruth Auditing Team. The previous "Easy" test is designed for the average customer, not the telecom insider. This "HARD" test will show your true meddle. However, it is what the average customer is confronted with, every month, on their phone bill. Here's the "Surcharges and Taxes" from a normal Verizon, New York City Verizon's Freedom package for "Verizon Basic Local Services", (from April-May 2003). Fill in the Blanks ---- What taxes and surcharges are applied to the items listed on the first column on the left, below? -- i.e., is Federal tax applied to the FCC Line Charge or the E911 charge? How do you justify the Federal Tax of $.22 cent charge above, or even the State and Local taxes at $.59 cents? Your task is to go through each charge listed and decide if it applied to some other charge. Put an "X" in the column -- Example, marked below... The FCC Line Charge is taxed Federal tax. It, plus other items will equal $.22 cents in Federal tax. Fill in the rest of this chart. Hint -- The Federal Tax is 3%, the New York City and State Tax is 8.625%   FCC Line Portablity Federal State 911 FUSF Surcharges FCC Line . . "X" . . . . Portability . . . . . . . Federal . . . . . . . State . . . . . . . 911 . . . . . . . FUSF . . . . . . . Surcharges . . . . . . . Totals $6.00 $.23 $.22 $.59 $1.00 $.57 $.37 Note: This section of the bill is from April-May, 2003., thus the lower FCC Line Charge and USF charges. Scoring --- Every "right" answer is worth 2 points, every "wrong" answer or missing answer is a minus-2 points. --- Total possible correct score is 98%. To Calculate Your Score, See Answers. Join in a Petition to Remove the FCC Line Charge and Investigate ALL Charges, and Taxes and Surcharges. Or read the new expose:  "The Dirty Little Secret Lives of Phone Bills" The Expose the Phone Companies Don't Want You To Read: More Scandals that Cost You More Money.