VOIP Tax Coming for providers?
Phone customers who make calls through the Internet in Kansas may see higher bills come January.
On Monday, the Kansas Corporation Commission issued an order requiring voice-over-Internet-protocol services — also known as VoIP — to kick into a state fund that assures phone service is available to everyone, especially hard-to-serve rural areas.
Customers of regular phone companies have paid the Kansas universal service charge for years, but Internet phone providers haven’t until now.
The commission order requires VoIP companies to pay 4.65 percent of their Kansas revenue to the fund –the same as traditional phone companies pay.
The VoIP companies can absorb the cost or pass it on to customers in a bill charge, said commission spokeswoman Rosemary Foreman.
Because VoIP companies operate outside state regulation, no one knows how many Kansas customers they have, said Sandy Reams, managing auditor for the commission.
She estimated that VoIP companies make about $35 million a year in Kansas. She estimated their universal service payments will be about $1.6 million.
Making the VoIP companies pay is a matter of fairness, said Rep. Don Myers, R-Derby, a member of the Energy and Utilities Committee.
Myers supported recent legislation authorizing the commission to begin charging VoIP providers for the universal service fund.
VoIP service is a fairly new development that has grown along with the rollout of high-speed Internet.
VoIP transmits phone conversations through the Internet to phone company networks, allowing calls to reach users of ordinary phones.
Although the traffic originates through the Internet, “certainly they are using the phone system,” Myers said.
Vonage has emerged as the most visible VoIP company through its TV ad blitzes. But a variety of other well-known companies are active in the industry, including Microsoft, T-Mobile, Google and Yahoo.
