State of Texas increasing taxes on satellite?????

Rolling Joe

SatelliteGuys Pro
May 12, 2012
444
231
Spokane, WA
Question I asked on Dish Answers on Facebook this morning:



  • Anybody know why a new charge was added to my bill, it was listed as ohio state surcharge of 20 cents?
    Dish Network




  • I understand your concern. Unfortunately, due to the increased costs associated with providing service in your state, this surcharge was added to all customer accounts who reside in Ohio. It allows us to continue providing all of your favorite programming by helping us account for this increased expense. I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused.

OK, I understand. I just want to know what Dish considers an "increased cost" to be. I have no problem with them passing along these "costs" to subscribers in the states that generate them. But I can't complain to my state government or politicians if I don't know what they are.
 

Pepper

DVR Addict~Mad Scientist
Supporting Founder
Mar 16, 2004
8,191
1,060
Satsuma, AL
OK, I understand. I just want to know what Dish considers an "increased cost" to be. I have no problem with them passing along these "costs" to subscribers in the states that generate them. But I can't complain to my state government or politicians if I don't know what they are.
First thing that comes to mind, and stays in my mind the more vague Dish is about these "increased costs" is they must be to cover the cost of incentives *cough* bribes *cough* paid to particular state officials.

If it's not a legal tax or fee imposed by the jurisdiction involved, and it's unique to that particular jurisdiction, what else could it be?
 

gpflepsen

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 8, 2003
3,295
301
SE NE
GaryPen said:
Thanks for the tip. I'll have to move Texas further down on my list of future vacation spots. It's already pretty far down on the list. But, I guess Somalia just moved up a notch.

Wrong state...
 

Funance

New Member
Jun 22, 2012
1
0
over the rainbow
Hey Guys!
New here. Thanks for this. Found your Forum via Google.
Anybody have any info for TX for the new charge this month?
Thanks in advance, I wanna know the HB or SB citation so I can look it up and read it.
At least I know now others are being charged and not just me. It's at least legit in the sense that they are charging everyone and not a mess-up just on my bill.
 

odbrv

SatelliteGuys Pro
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 21, 2004
1,057
356
Lubbock, Tx
I am in Texas and my bill has a sales tax and no other State fees. See below:

Jun14-Jul13 MonthlyCharges
America'sEverythingPak 104.99
HDDuo(2TV)DVRReceiver 17.00
Blockbuster@Home 10.00
Multi-Sportw/Redzone 9.00
ProtectionPlan 7.00
5Superstations 7.00
DVRService 6.00
$160.99
Jun14-Jul13 MonthlySavings
HD250Free($10/mo) 0.00
$0.00

One-TimeCharges&Credits

Jun03 TechVisit $0.00
$0.00
Jun03 State/LocalTa:mad:Sales) $10.52

BillPeriod 06/14/12-07/13/12 $171.51
Total AutoPayonJun23,2012 $171.51
 

dare2be

SatelliteGuys God
Lifetime Supporter
Jul 15, 2011
12,742
7,775
FL
I am in Texas and my bill has a sales tax and no other State fees. See below:
Could it be that your bill was generated before the surcharge went into effect? Jun03 is rather early in the month.
 

HDinTX

SatelliteGuys Family
Dec 6, 2005
65
4
Here's the response I received from Dish:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I understand your concern about your bill and I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please be advised that the customers who live in the following states, will see a new monthly surcharge appear on their bill. This is not a new tax; the customer’s state has substantially increased the cost of doing business and this surcharge will allow us to continue providing our programming at the low cost they are accustomed to without having to increase the programming costs for all DISH customers.

State Surcharge

($/mo)

Connecticut $3.96

Delaware $1.50

Kentucky $1.30

Ohio $0.20

Texas $0.62

Virgin Islands $4.00

Washington $1.00

For further assistance, you can also visit DISH Customer Care & Service | DISH Support Live Chat to start a live chat with a customer service representative.

Thank you for your email.
 

MikeD-C05

Pub Member / Supporter
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 25, 2003
33,206
31,564
Nederland , Texas
So basically this is a DISH Tax from DISH for the citizens of those states. So DISH goes from DISH FEES to DISH TAXES. Only Charlie would come up with this one.:down
 

Neutron

Founding Supporter
Supporting Founder
Nov 7, 2003
18,740
1,124
Texas
The only way to counter this is to vote with your wallet.

I don't understand the line from DISH that the cost of doing business in Texas has gone up. No new bills have been passed to warrant such.
 

gpflepsen

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Sep 8, 2003
3,295
301
SE NE
HDinTX said:
Here's the response I received from Dish

... the customer’s state has substantially increased the cost of doing business.

I'd like to see this defined or a specific example of this increased cost. Is it court documentation fees?
 

Rolling Joe

SatelliteGuys Pro
May 12, 2012
444
231
Spokane, WA
Here's the response I received from Dish:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I understand your concern about your bill and I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please be advised that the customers who live in the following states, will see a new monthly surcharge appear on their bill. This is not a new tax; the customer’s state has substantially increased the cost of doing business and this surcharge will allow us to continue providing our programming at the low cost they are accustomed to without having to increase the programming costs for all DISH customers.

They need to provide a few examples of the "increased cost of doing business". Until they do, I remain unconvinced.
 

boba

SatelliteGuys Master
Dec 12, 2003
11,350
1,035
Dorchester, TX.
And what will you do, pay your bill less the amount that you feel is unjustified ?
As stated earlier vote with your wallet. I conceded the 62cents but dropped a $4.99 programming package, yes Charlie is stealing 62 cents but he lost $5 of programming.
 

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