The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (“WI PSC”) recently adopted new rules that impose a fee on all voice service providers operating in the state.  According to the WI PSC, this new fee will help fund Wisconsin‘s fire protection and police fund.  The “Police and Fire Protection” assessment is applied to two types of transactions.  First, a fee of $0.38 is imposed on each retail transaction for prepaid wireless telecommunications plans.  Second, a monthly fee of $0.75 is imposed on each voice communications connection with an assigned telephone number (including landline, cellular line, and a communication service provided via a VoIP connection).  If a communications provider provides multiple connections to a subscriber, the fee will be $0.75 for each of the first 10 connections and one additional fee of $0.75 for each 10 additional connections per billed account (i.e. $0.075 fee for each connection over 10).

For the time being, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (“WI DOR”) will be administering the $0.38 per-transaction fee on retail transactions for prepaid wireless telecommunications plans, and the WI PSC will be administering the $0.75 monthly fee on all communications service connections with assigned telephone numbers.  A mechanism is currently being developed to report both fees on one electronic form to be filed with the WI DOR.  Companies subject to the fee will be required to register with the WI DOR for the collection, reporting, and remittance of the fees.

For more information, please review the WI PSC website here.

Client Advisory

Clients who feel that this new fee may apply to their business and have specific questions should directly contact Jonathan Marashlian at jsm@commlawgroup.com or 703-714-1313.