video excise tax??????`

[bnewt]

could someone please tell me what this is & why it just appeared on my bill?

 

[primestar31]

It's usually a tax levied by that state you live in. Dish collects it, and passes it to them. You live in Kentucky, so you are on the list.

http://www.mydish.com/support/taxes-charges

 

[bnewt]

what is it taxing......the entire programming, one certain aspect?

 

[ChadT41]

The cost the state charges Dish to operate their Television service in. Unfortunately this one comes down from your elected officials, thinking the companies(Dish and DTV) would not charge it's customers the fees for this.

 

[Bobby]

The cost the state charges Dish to operate their Television service in. Unfortunately this one comes down from your elected officials, thinking the companies(Dish and DTV) would not charge it's customers the fees for this.

The cable companies do, why shouldn't the satellite companies?

 

[ChadT41]

The cable companies do, why shouldn't the satellite companies?

I've never looked at the cable fees(just know they are ridiculous unless triple play), what kinds of taxes do they get/charge as they operate locally and not nationally(even companies like Comcast has Comcast-town A, Comcast-town B). I'd imagine they would have different taxes since they already "give back to the local economy".

 

[Bobby]

They pass along their franchise fees to the subs.... In any world, franchise fees are a tax...

 

[ChadT41]

That makes sense.

This just came to mind, and maybe a rough sketch, but would settle all price debates. What if the government stayed out of the companies business, let them operate as a company, but started their own local TV delivery service funded completely by tax payers. They could set their own prices, and delivery, and people would have the choice of going private or government tv(see which one is better). Would probably just have the OTA channels on it, but that way people couldn't say they have no other option, and use it as a public utility... It would be like Obamacare- TV style.

This would never work, but it would definitely settle all of the cost and equipment disputes as people would have their options and could see what government restrictions would do to their TV viewing.

 

[dishcomm]

These taxes( that is what they are) are the result of the cable tv lobby in each state bending the ear of legislators. The cable lobbyists whine that satellite and telco providers don't pay franchise fees, which are passed directly to the end users.
So for a little quid pro quo, these legislators are told the money can be used to spend on anything.....SO they write a bill and pass it....And we get fleeced.

 

[david_jr]

Talk about "because they can" fees!!

 

[MikeD-C05]

Talk about "because they can" fees!!

Well if anyone can charge because we CAN fees, it is surely the state and the federal governments.

 

[TNGTony]

They pass along their franchise fees to the subs.... In any world, franchise fees are a tax...

They were never supposed to be a tax. That is what they became essentially. Franchise fees are intended to pay for municipal right-of-way leasing, recovery of costs associated with regulating and maintaining the cable presence, and providing local content (Public, Educational, Government) access TV for the community it serves. They were also intended to pay for independent arbitration of disputes between local individuals and the cable company including billing disputes, and property disputes. It is supposed to be a fee for service. However, since all the franchise fees and cable agreements were made more than two generations ago, most people forgot their intended purpose and elected officials either see it as a revenue stream or in the case of state governments that do not directly benefit from the fees, an unnecessary relic thereby killing the last remnants of truly local TV slowly but surely.

BTW, Franchise fees go DIRECTLY to the local government, not the state. Satellite taxes go directly to the state and are NEVER passed back to the local community.

 

[CK SatGuy]

My favorite one from the list:

• Maryland (Boxing/Wrestling Tax): DISH is subject to a 10.0% tax on gross receipts from the sale of boxing and wrestling broadcasts in Maryland.

So if somebody decides to buy a floyd mayweather fight or WWE PPV, people hay to pay a 10% tax on it in Maryland. Ridiculous.