Key Findings
- A typical American family with 4 telephones on a “household share” plan, paying $100 per 30 days for taxable wi-fi companies, would pay over $330 per 12 months in taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges.
- Taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges make up a record-high 27.60 p.c of the common wi-fi companies invoice. Illinois residents proceed to have the best wi-fi taxes within the nation at 38.32 p.c, adopted by Washington at 34.98 p.c and Arkansas at 34.00 p.c. Idaho residents pay the bottom wi-fi taxes at 16.82 p.c.
- Louisiana had the biggest enhance of any state in 2025—from 24.70 p.c to 31.90 p.c—as a result of passage of a taxA tax is a compulsory fee or cost collected by native, state, and nationwide governments from people or companies to cowl the prices of common authorities companies, items, and actions. reform bundle that elevated the gross sales taxA gross sales tax is levied on retail gross sales of products and companies and, ideally, ought to apply to all closing consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt items like groceries; base broadening, akin to together with groceries, may preserve charges decrease. A gross sales tax ought to exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, trigger tax pyramiding. charge on wi-fi companies from 3.45 p.c to 10 p.c.
- The Federal Common Service Fund (FUSF) cost elevated once more, from 12.76 p.c to 13.36 p.c. Common state and native taxes additionally elevated, from 14.01 p.c to 14.25 p.c.
- The federal Everlasting Web Tax Freedom Act prevents state and native governments from imposing taxes and charges on wi-fi web entry. With out this federal prohibition, taxes and charges that apply to wi-fi voice companies may very well be utilized to web entry and considerably enhance the tax burden on shoppers who entry the web utilizing wi-fi gadgets.
- Since 2012, the common cost from wi-fi suppliers decreased by 29 p.c, from $47.00 per line per 30 days to $33.36 per line. Nonetheless, throughout this similar time, wi-fi taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges elevated from 17.18 p.c to 27.60 p.c of the common invoice, leading to shopper advantages from decrease wi-fi costs being offset by larger taxes and charges.
- Roughly 83 p.c of low-income adults and 78 p.c of all adults reside in wireless-only households. Wi-fi taxes are regressive and create important burdens on low-income households.
Introduction
Taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges on the standard American wi-fi shopper elevated once more, from 26.77 p.c of a typical month-to-month invoice in 2024 to 27.60 p.c in 2025. This complete consists of state and native taxes averaging 14.25 p.c and the Federal Common Service Fund (FUSF) charge of 13.36 p.c.[1]
That is the 16th version of our report monitoring the taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges imposed on wi-fi voice companies by federal, state, and native governments. Our methodology stays constant. We evaluate the proportion charges of the taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges imposed on taxable wi-fi companies, referred to hereafter as “taxes.” Flat charge impositions, akin to a $1.00 per 30 days per-line 911 price, are transformed to a proportion utilizing the common month-to-month trade income per line as tracked by the Mobile Telecommunications and Web Affiliation (CTIA).
The wi-fi market has turn into more and more aggressive. The consequence has been regular declines within the common worth for wi-fi companies. Over the past decade or so, the common month-to-month income per wi-fi line has fallen from $47.00 per 30 days to $33.36 per 30 days. Sadly, this worth discount for shoppers has been partially offset by larger taxes.
There have been about 579 million wi-fi subscriber connections on the finish of 2024.[2] Wi-fi subscribers pays roughly $12.5 billion in taxes to state and native governments in 2025 primarily based on the tax charges calculated on this report, together with:
- $5.4 billion in gross sales taxes and different non-discriminatory consumption taxes that additionally apply to different taxable items and companies,
- $4.3 billion in state and native 911 and 988 charges, which incorporates a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} that aren’t truly used for 911 functions in some states, and
- $2.8 billion in extra telecommunications-specific taxes.
Wi-fi companies are sometimes the only technique of communication and connectivity for Individuals, particularly youthful folks and low-income households. In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), in 2024, 78 p.c of all adults and 83 p.c of low-income adults lived in wireless-only households.[3] The $7.1 billion in state and native taxes and charges which are levied along with gross sales taxes disproportionately influence Individuals least capable of afford them.
Wi-fi Taxes and Charges Set a New Report Excessive in 2025
Taxes on wi-fi companies elevated to their highest degree ever, pushed by one other FUSF surcharge charge enhance and a small enhance in state and native taxes. The state and native tax burden elevated from 14.01 p.c to 14.25 p.c, whereas the FUSF surcharge charge elevated from 12.76 p.c to 13.26 p.c.
Desk 1. US Common Wi-fi and Basic Gross sales & Use Tax Charges
Notes: Methodology derived from Committee on State Taxation, “50-State Research and Report on Telecommunications Taxation,” Could 2005. Up to date July 2025 from; Federal consists of 3% federal excise taxAn excise tax is a tax imposed on a selected good or exercise. Excise taxes are generally levied on cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, soda, gasoline, insurance coverage premiums, amusement actions, and betting, and usually make up a comparatively small and risky portion of state and native and, to a lesser extent, federal tax collections. (till 5/2006) and federal common service fund cost, which is about by the FCC and varies quarterly:
Federal USF 7/1/2025 — 37.1% Interstate protected harbor x 36.0% contribution issue = 13.36% efficient tax charge
Supply: State statutes; FCC information; native ordinances; writer calculations.
The speed of the FUSF surcharge has been growing steadily since 2017. These FUSF charge will increase have been pushed by the decline within the worth of telecommunications companies, mixed with the shift in shopper purchases from telecommunications companies to web entry. This has pressured the FCC to extend charges simply to maintain revenues fixed. The US Supreme Courtroom not too long ago heard a case difficult the constitutionality of the FUSF.[4] Whereas the Courtroom upheld the legality of the FUSF, the case has prompted new curiosity in reforming how the surcharge is collected and administered.
The mixed state and native tax burdens in every state are ranked from highest to lowest in Desk 2. Illinois has the best wi-fi taxes within the nation with state and native charges of practically 25 p.c.
Desk 2. Taxes, Charges, and Authorities Costs on Wi-fi Companies, July 2025
Word: The native tax charge is calculated as the common of the tax charges in essentially the most populated metropolis and the capital metropolis.
Supply: State statutes; FCC information; native ordinances; writer calculations.
Determine 1 reveals that Washington, Arkansas, New York, and Kansas spherical out the highest 5 costliest states for wi-fi taxes. Idaho, Nevada, and Montana have the bottom wi-fi taxes within the nation.
States have debated whether or not to develop the gross sales tax baseThe tax base is the full quantity of revenue, property, property, consumption, transactions, or different financial exercise topic to taxation by a tax authority. A slim tax base is non-neutral and inefficient. A broad tax base reduces tax administration prices and permits extra income to be raised at decrease charges. from tangible items to companies for many years, with proponents of increasing the gross sales tax base to companies arguing that the disparity in taxation between taxable tangible items and exempt companies doesn’t make sense. With regards to wi-fi companies, nonetheless, the precise reverse is true. Wi-fi companies are topic to state and native taxes 1.8 instances larger than the gross sales taxes imposed on items, with the common state and native wi-fi tax charge of 14.25 p.c and the common mixed gross sales tax charge of seven.87 p.c. In 17 states, wi-fi taxes are greater than twice as excessive as gross sales taxes. Three states which have chosen to not impose a gross sales tax—Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire—have particular taxes on wi-fi and different telecommunications companies.
Whole Taxes Paid
Wi-fi shoppers pays about $12.5 billion in taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges to state and native governments in 2025 primarily based on the tax charges calculated on this report. Lower than half of this quantity—$5.4 billion—represents state and native gross sales and use taxes. These taxes are broadly utilized to taxable items and a few companies and don’t apply solely to wi-fi companies. The remaining $7.1 billion is taxes that solely goal wi-fi and different telecommunications companies. For a extra detailed dialogue of the methodology on this report, please see earlier years’ experiences.
The Everlasting Web Tax Freedom Act prevents state and native governments from imposing taxes on web entry companies, together with wi-fi web entry. With out the safety of this federal legislation, the excessive excise tax charges utilized to taxable wi-fi companies may very well be utilized to web entry, and shopper tax burdens could be considerably larger.
Desk 3. Disparity Between Wi-fi Tax & Price Fee and Basic Gross sales Tax Fee, July 2025
Supply: State statutes, FCC information, native ordinances, writer calculations.
State Developments in Wi-fi Taxes
911 and 988 Charges
Most states impose a flat, per-line tax on telecommunications clients to fund capital and working bills for state and native emergency 911 programs. These charges range considerably amongst states, from $0 in most counties in Missouri to a excessive of $5.00 per line per 30 days in Chicago.[5] In 2025, California, Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia elevated 911 taxes. The most important will increase have been in Mississippi (from $1.05 per line per 30 days to $2.05 per line per 30 days) and New Mexico (from $0.51 per line per 30 days to $1.00 per line per 30 days). West Virginia, which already had the best statewide wi-fi 911 tax at $3.64 per line per 30 days, elevated it additional to $4.01 per line per 30 days.
In 2021, a brand new tax started showing on buyer payments. The FCC mandated {that a} new three-digit quantity, 988, be designated nationally to contact suicide prevention hotlines that shall be operated by the states. A legislation handed by Congress licensed states to impose 988 taxes to pay for a few of the creation and operation of 988 disaster hotline facilities. In 2021, Virginia was the primary state to impose a brand new 988 tax at $0.12 per line per 30 days. Since then, 10 extra states have enacted 988 taxes on wi-fi shoppers. Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota applied new 988 taxes in 2025, whereas Colorado lowered its 988 tax from $0.14 per line per 30 days to $0.07 per line per 30 days.
State Common Service Funds
Twenty-one states and Puerto Rico impose their very own “common service fund” (USF) cost on wi-fi companies that present subsidies for most of the similar functions because the FUSF. Underneath federal legislation, the federal authorities imposes the cost as a proportion of interstate revenues, and states could impose a cost as a proportion of intrastate revenues. Just lately, nonetheless, some states have shifted from a percentage-based cost to a per-line USF imposition, which has resulted in a big portion of the state USF burden being borne by multi-line wi-fi plans.
The best per-line cost is in Nebraska at $1.75 per line per 30 days. A household with a share plan with 4 strains pays $7.50 per 30 days ($90 per 12 months) even when they’ve the lowest-price wi-fi plan. Different per-line state USF impositions are in Utah, New Mexico, Maine, Kentucky, and Maryland. On a optimistic observe, California and Oklahoma lowered their per-line USF expenses in 2025.
The remaining states proceed to impose their USF expenses on a proportion foundation. Texas made headlines in 2022 when the Public Utility Fee accepted a seven-fold enhance within the state USF charge, from 3.3 p.c to 24 p.c of intrastate expenses. A subsequent order lowered the speed to 12 p.c of intrastate expenses, which nonetheless resulted in a 350 p.c enhance in USF expenses on wi-fi buyer payments. Along with Texas, different states with excessive USF charges embrace Kansas at 7.6 p.c, adopted by Arkansas (7.5 p.c), Alaska (6.3 p.c), and Oregon (3.8 p.c). In 2025, Arkansas, Indiana, and Wyoming lowered their USF proportion expenses whereas Kansas and Nevada elevated them.
State Wi-fi Taxes
Along with 911 charges, 988 charges, and USF expenses, 13 states impose wi-fi taxes which are both along with gross sales taxes or in lieu of gross sales taxes however at the next charge. In 2025, the Maine legislature voted to repeal the “Service Supplier Tax” that imposed the next state tax charge on wi-fi companies. That repeal will take impact on January 1, 2026.
Desk 4. State Wi-fi Taxes by State
Supply: State statutes.
Native Wi-fi Taxes
Native governments all through the nation additionally impose taxes on wi-fi companies that aren’t imposed on different items and companies. Many of those taxes are imposed due to legacy taxes that have been established in the course of the regulated phone monopoly period that existed previous to the Eighties breakup of AT&T. Native governments in some states have longstanding authority to impose right-of-way (ROW) charges on phone corporations for putting poles, wires, and tools on native property. In different states, localities impose franchise or license taxes on phone corporations in change for the privilege of doing enterprise in a metropolis.
Within the late Nineties and early 2000s, when wi-fi companies started to compete with wireline companies, localities turned involved about dropping revenues from native taxes on wireline phone corporations and sought to increase these taxes to wi-fi companies. This occurred in some states despite the fact that wi-fi suppliers usually didn’t use the general public right-of-way to put tools or, once they did use public property like on high of buildings, the utilization was de minimis and paid for by negotiated rental agreements. This response to altering shopper habits can be noticed in native taxation of streaming companies and cable corporations, the place localities are preventing to retain income by taxing streaming companies as in the event that they have been utilizing ROW like cable corporations.[6]
Native governments in 14 states at present impose some kind of tax on wi-fi companies along with native choice gross sales taxes. In most of these states, the taxes are additive and solely additional enhance the tax burden on wi-fi companies. California and Illinois are the exceptions; in these states, wi-fi companies are topic to taxes in lieu of the gross sales tax however most often the wi-fi tax is larger than the gross sales tax. Desk 5 gives a breakdown of the sorts of native wi-fi taxes that apply. Native taxes have a major influence on the general tax burden on wi-fi companies in a number of of the states with the best wi-fi taxes, together with Illinois, Washington, Nebraska, New York, Utah, and Maryland.
Desk 5. Native Wi-fi Taxes by Kind
Word: Excludes native common gross sales taxes.
Supply: Native ordinances.
California has the best native taxes, with charges as much as 11 p.c. Washington follows intently with native taxes as excessive as 9 p.c, adopted by Illinois (as much as 7 p.c) and Florida (as much as 7 p.c). Along with these percentage-based taxes, Illinois permits native per-line taxes of $5.00 per line per 30 days in Chicago, and Maryland permits Baltimore to cost $4.00 per line per 30 days. Nebraska wi-fi shoppers obtained some reduction from excessive native taxes this 12 months, because the governor signed laws in 2024 to decrease the cap on native wi-fi taxes from 6.25 p.c to 4 p.c.
Native governments apply a spread of wi-fi taxes. In Chicago, a household of 4 paying $100 per 30 days for taxable wi-fi companies would pay practically $36 per 30 days (over $430 per 12 months) in state and native taxes on wi-fi companies. That very same household in Baltimore would pay over $350 in state and native wi-fi taxes yearly.
Desk 6. State and Native Wi-fi Taxes and Charges on Single-Line and Multi-Line Plans in Chosen Cities, July 2025
Supply: Native ordinances.
The Regressive Impression of Wi-fi Taxes
Economists use the time period “regressive” to explain tax programs that impose larger tax burdens on low-income taxpayers than on high-income taxpayers, as measured as a proportion of revenue. As a result of low-income households pay a higher proportion of their budgets on wi-fi companies than do high-income households, in addition they pay a higher proportion of their budgets on wi-fi taxes. Due to this fact, wi-fi taxes are regressive.
The development of accelerating per-line impositions—for 911 and 988 taxes, state USF expenses, and even common wi-fi taxes—makes wi-fi taxes much more regressive. Many consumption taxes have regressive results, and whereas that isn’t in itself an argument in opposition to levying them, lawmakers ought to be cautious when growing regressive taxTaxes can create completely different burdens on taxpayers of various revenue ranges, measured by evaluating taxes paid as a fraction of revenue. A regressive tax is one which creates a bigger burden on lower-income taxpayers than on middle- or higher-income taxpayers. burdens, significantly within the case of a focused excise tax that doesn’t meaningfully internalize any exterior harms and sometimes exceeds any quantity essential to pay for associated authorities packages.
Extreme taxes and charges enhance the price of wi-fi companies at a time when residents are counting on wi-fi companies greater than ever for entry to authorities companies (together with schooling), well being care, distant work, and commerce. In reality, wi-fi companies have gotten the only technique of communication and connectivity for a lot of Individuals, particularly these combating poverty. Eighty-three p.c of low-income adults had wireless-only service, and 78 p.c of all adults have been wireless-only on the finish of 2024.
The Financial Impression of Extreme Wi-fi Taxes
Policymakers ought to be cautious about increasing wi-fi taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges for 2 main causes. First, as mentioned above, wi-fi taxes are regressive and have a disproportionate influence on low-income shoppers. Extreme taxes and charges enhance the price of entry to wi-fi service for low-income shoppers at a time when many depend on wi-fi service as their solely telecommunications service.
Second, discriminatory taxes could sluggish funding in wi-fi infrastructure. Ample proof exists that investments in wi-fi networks present financial advantages to the broader financial system as a result of so many sectors—transportation, well being care, power, schooling, and even authorities—use wi-fi networks to spice up productiveness and effectivity. These financial advantages have been particularly vital in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of wi-fi networks enabled staff to work remotely and allowed college students to proceed their research. These developments have continued post-pandemic.
Community funding is vital not solely to shoppers and companies that use these wi-fi networks but in addition to your complete American financial system. A report by the Worldwide Chamber of Commerce (ICC) surveyed the proof from the United States and Europe in addition to from the creating world. They discovered persistently that wi-fi infrastructure funding permits a complete entrepreneurial tradition to give attention to creating purposes and gadgets to make companies extra productive and to enhance the lives of shoppers. These instruments in flip make companies extra profitable in order that they’ll create new jobs that generate financial exercise and tax revenues for governments.
The ICC notes, “[r]emedying the discriminatory tax remedy of telecom items and companies could scale back tax receipts within the short-term, however the longer-term enhance in the usage of superior functionality gadgets, service demand, and community deployment ensuing from these tax reductions is more likely to counteract this lack of income over time.” [7] Policymakers must weigh the trade-offs between the short-term income advantages of extreme wi-fi taxes and the long-term financial influence on the state from lowered infrastructure funding.
Making use of the gross sales tax, a conventional broad-based consumption taxA consumption tax is often levied on the acquisition of products or companies and is paid instantly or not directly by the patron within the type of retail gross sales taxes, excise taxes, tariffs, value-added taxes (VAT), or revenue taxes the place all financial savings are tax-deductible., is completely acceptable, however extreme focused taxation of wi-fi companies lacks the normal justifications—a “user-pays” system or the internalization of social prices—for excise taxation, elevating shopper prices and undercutting funding in a significant market.
Conclusion
Wi-fi shoppers proceed to be burdened with excessive taxes, charges, and authorities surcharges in lots of states and localities all through the nation. Effectively over half of the $12.5 billion in state and native taxes imposed on wi-fi companies are discriminatory in nature, as they solely apply to telecommunications companies. These taxes disproportionately burden low-income Individuals, and disincentivize funding in new wi-fi companies.
To alleviate the regressive influence on wi-fi shoppers, states ought to study their current communications tax construction and think about insurance policies that transition their tax programs away from narrowly primarily based wi-fi taxes and towards broad-based tax sources that don’t distort the financial system and don’t sluggish funding in crucial infrastructure like wi-fi broadband.
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[1] This system subsidizes telecommunications companies for faculties, libraries, hospitals, low-income folks, and rural phone corporations working in high-cost areas. The calculation of the FUSF surcharge charge assumes that wi-fi suppliers use the “protected harbor” proportion.
[2] Consists of watches, tablets, and different related gadgets. Robert Roche, “CTIA’s Wi-fi Trade Indices Report, Yr Finish 2022 Outcomes,” September 2025, web page 7.
[3] Stephen J. Blumberg and Julian V. Luke, “Wi-fi Substitution: Early Launch Estimates from the Nationwide Well being Interview Survey, July-December 2024,” Nationwide Middle for Well being Statistics, June 2025, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/information/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless202506.pdf.
[4] Federal Communications Fee v. Shoppers’ Analysis, 606 U.S. (2025).
[5] Missouri has no state 911 price on billed 911 service however does have a 911 price on pay as you go wi-fi companies.
[6] Ulrik Boesen, “Slicing the Wire from Cable Has States Courting New Income Streams,” Tax Basis, Jul. 19, 2021, https://taxfoundation.org/streaming-services-tax/.
[7] Worldwide Chamber of Commerce, “ICC Dialogue Paper on the Antagonistic Results of Discriminatory Taxes on Telecommunications Service,” Oct. 26, 2010, https://cdn.iccwbo.org/content material/uploads/websites/3/2010/10/ICC-discussion-paper-on-the-adverse-effects-of-discriminatory-taxes-on-telecommunications-services.pdf.
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