Summary of Taxes, Surcharges, Recovery and Funding Charges on your GCI Invoice
GCI is responsible for collecting various taxes, fees and surcharges that appear on your monthly billing statement. Scroll down for an explanation of these taxes, fees or surcharges.
If you have further questions or would like more information about the purpose of specific regulatory fees or surcharges you can contact the following organizations:
Intrastate
Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA)
Consumer Protection Division
276-6222
Interstate
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Public Service Division
1-888-225-5322
www.fcc.gov
Goes to: The recovery of expenses incurred to bring improvements to hearing aid compatible service delivery and number portability. It is not a tax or charge the government requires GCI to collect and is subject to change from time to time.
Applies to: Business and Residential Wireless Phone Customers. Does not apply to GCI+ Wireless Phone Customers.
Rate: $3.99 per line
Effective: 6/1/17
Applies to: Business and Residential Local and Long-Distance Phone and Wireless Phone Customers
Jurisdiction: Federal
Local Phone Rate: 35.8% of the customer’s total net interstate and international long distance charges (after the application of any discounts and credits) and the Local Subscriber Line Charge. Effective 10/01/24.
Previously 34.4% Effective 07/02/2024.
Wireless Rate: Under the Traffic Study rule, the USF tax is 8.43% of the customer’s net wireless charges (after the application of any discounts and/or credits) including the voice portion of the wireless plan, administrative fees, & usage charges with the exclusion of fees and usage labeled LD or Roaming. Effective 10/01/2024.
The following items are not taxed: Handset Insurance, Data only fees and Data usage.
The customer’s fees and usage that are labeled LD or Roaming are charged the same rate for Federal Universal Service Fund as LD and Local (above). Effective 07/01/17.
Previously 8.10% Effective 07/02/2024.
VOIP/SIP Rate: Under the Safe Harbor rule, the USF tax is 23.23% of the customer's net VOIP/SIP charges (after the application of any discounts and/or credits) including plan, feature and administrative fees. Effective 10/01/2024.
Previously 22.33% Effective 07/02/2024.
Goes to: The FCC collects regulatory fees to recover regulatory costs associated with its enforcement, policy and rule making, user information, and international activities.
Applies to: Residential and Business Video (cable) Services
Rate: $0.11 per service address
Effective: 7/1/24
Previously: $0.10 per service address; effective 2/2/23
Goes to: In 1996 payphones became deregulated. After this ruling, the FCC established a way for payphone providers to be compensated for calls from their payphones that do not generate coin revenue.
Applies to: Business & Residential Customers making calls from a payphone via a GCI Calling Card
Jurisdiction: Federal
Rate: A fee of $0.494 per payphone call was set by the FCC in 2004 to compensate payphone providers. GCI instituted a payphone origination surcharge of $0.50 to offset this fee, plus $0.006 to cover the administration costs of payphone services.
AUSF is remitted to a state fund that supports Essential Network Support (ENS) and is designed to offset the high cost of constructing and maintaining local networks. This fund is used to reduce local service rates.
Applies to: Business and Residential Customers (Local and Intrastate services)
Jurisdiction: State (Local and Intrastate)
Rate:
Previously 10% and 7.89%, and 3.51% respectively effective 1/1/24
Applies to: Residential and Business (Local and Intrastate services including recurring plan fees, surcharges on calling card calls, any Intrastate plan set up fees and all plan minimum deficiencies)
Jurisdiction: State (Local and Intrastate)
Rate:
Previous rate:
Goes to: Support the provision of an enhanced system for emergency services communications, as prescribed by Alaska Statutes, Title 29, Chapter 35, Section 131. 911 Surcharge (AS 29.35.131. 911 Surcharge). In the statute, phone companies may charge, per access line (no charge after 100 access lines in the account), in a municipality with 100,000+ people where an enhanced 911 system is in place. No more than 1.0% of the proceeds are kept by the phone company to cover administrative costs, and the rest is forwarded to the municipality to fund the system.
Applies to: Residential and Business Customers (Local & Wireless services)
Jurisdiction: State (Local)
Rate:
Goes to: This charge was established by the FCC to recover a portion of the loop costs that is not covered through basic local rates.
Applies to: Residential and Business (Local services)
Effective Sept. 1, 2004, the FCC changed the number of Subscriber Line Charges (SLC) that a business can be charged for a Digital Subscriber Service (DSS) and PRIs. The maximum of 5 SLCs can be assessed. With the reduction of the SLC charges, a port surcharge was allowed:
Jurisdiction: Federal
Rate:
Goes to: Fund Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) to meet the needs of persons who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or speech disabled as prescribed by Alaska Statute AS 42.05.296 and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s regulations 3 AAC 51.010, et seq., requiring that TRS is funded by a monthly surcharge on all voice lines from subscribers of telecommunications, including wireline, wireless and VOIP services.
Applies to: Residential and Business Customers (Local and Intrastate services)
Jurisdiction: State (Local and Intrastate)
Rate:
Previous Rate:
Goes to: The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has made changes to the intrastate interexchange access charge regulations. One of those changes was to institute a Network Access Fee (NAF) as a mandated way of paying for local network services. Beginning April 1, 2005 the NAF will be applied to each access line.
Applies to: Residential and Business Customers (Local services)
Jurisdiction: State (Local)
Rate:
Federal Tax
Goes to: GCI is required to collect Federal Excise Tax on all telecommunications services provided to customers
Applies to: Residential and Business (Applies to Local services)
Jurisdiction: Federal
Rate: 3.0%
State Tax
Goes to: While there is no state tax in Alaska, GCI is required by the State of Washington to collect state Sales, Location and Business & Occupation taxes on private line and frame relay data services that terminate in the State of Washington and are billed to an address outside of Alaska.
Applies to: This tax is only for those customers with dedicated data facilities and does not apply to Residential customers.
Jurisdiction: Washington State
Rate:
Local Sales Taxes
Goes to: GCI is required to collect local taxes on behalf of organized cities and boroughs within the State of Alaska.
Applies to: Residential or Business customers.
Code: Varies depending on location
Jurisdiction: State (Local and Intrastate)
Rate: Varies depending on location and some locations have city and borough taxes combined
Goes to: The recovery of expenses incurred to print and mail monthly bills.
Applies to: Residential Customers
Rate: $2.99 per account
Effective: 7/10/24