You'll see various taxes, fees, and surcharges on your Top VoIP bill, including state and local sales taxes, telecommunications taxes, E-911 fees, gross receipts tax surcharges, federal and state universal service fund surcharges, state regulatory fees, and right of way fees. These are applied as required by law.

Most of these charges are imposed directly on the customer and are collected and remitted by Top VoIP as an agent for the taxing authority. Others are reimbursement of amounts paid by Top VoIP. All taxes, fees and surcharges are charged at their statutory rates by Top VoIP and are not marked up in any manner.

Top VoIP ensures all necessary taxes are paid on your behalf, so you typically don't need to take any action. Moving forward, if you're not exempt from taxes, we'll impose and collect them as per our arrangement. For questions about tax and USF exemptions, refer to the relevant Q&A below.

All customers must pay state and local taxes for the states and cities in which the service is provided.

The rates for taxes, fees, and surcharges depend on your service location, the type of service, and other factors. For instance, the FUSF can be 17% or higher, while combined state and local taxes can range from 0-17% or more.

Different taxes apply to different charge types depending on the laws in place in the state where the service is provided. Although Top VoIP can look up individual state and local rates applicable to a service, the sheer quantity of rates and product combinations makes it impossible to chart out a table easily. Since most taxes are imposed directly on the customer, rates can be obtained directly from state and local tax authorities in the location your service is being provided.

Top VoIP’s services are provided within the United States and are subject to federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges. U.S. tax laws apply taxes based on the location of the service. FUSF Surcharge

All telecommunications providers that offer interstate and international voice and data, private line, directory assistance and other regulated services in the United States are required by the FCC to contribute to the FUSF. All retail customers currently purchasing interstate and international voice and data services are subject to the surcharge. Wholesale customers, those registered carriers that resell Top VoIP services, may be exempt from the surcharge if they contribute to the FUSF directly. FCC regulations specify that carriers pay the FUSF charge on services sold to end users. As such, resellers that are wholesale carrier customers may be exempted. You can find more information about the Universal Service Fund at: www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service

In some situations, customers may be exempt from certain taxes and surcharges. This is usually in the case of customers who are reselling the services they purchase. Some customers can claim exemption as a charitable, government or religious organization. It is the customer‘s responsibility to advise Top VoIP of its tax-exempt status and properly document that status. Top VoIP will bill tax and surcharges until proper notice of exempt status and properly executed exemption documentation is provided.

Availability of the resale exemption from state and local taxes depends upon the customer being registered to collect and remit taxes in that state for telecommunications and/or sales tax. This is independent of the customer‘s registration with the FCC. For every state in which your company is registered, you must fill in your registration number for that state on an exemption certificate. The customer may be exempt from taxes in some states but not others, or not exempt in any state.

Upon signing up for service on the Top VoIP you must provide an exemption certificate for the type of exception which your organization is qualified to receive.

Depending on your location, you may need to fill out various forms for tax exemptions. Common forms include the Federal USF, Multi-State Exemption, Gross Receipts Tax, State USF, and E-911 forms. Some states have specific forms. Ensure all forms are properly executed for exemptions to apply.

To be exempt from the FUSF Surcharge, you must: 1. Register with the FCC and obtain an FCC Filer ID. 2. Be listed as a Universal Service Fund Contributor on the FCC’s website. 3. Sign and submit the FUSF exemption form. For further tax-related questions, contact your Top VoIP account team. While we can't provide tax advice, we're happy to speak with your tax advisers.