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The rules say nothing about taxes and fees directly.
Your state implemented a few new tax laws as well as federal tax laws which affects prepaid. You can check other prepaid services and you will find everyone has to pay up. Not long ago people used to not pay these taxes and fees.
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I don't have a problem paying correct fees, however when the amount keeps changing each month, they need to provide a way for me to see what they are charging me for. That is the issue. They will not provide any information as to what I am being charged for on a prepaid plan. This is in violation of the FCC Truth-in-Billing regulations. I have filed a complaint. I also believe they are overcharging me more than $5 a month for the new CA MTS surcharge, so I have also filed a complaint with the California PUC.
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Some fees are government fees which are affected by country, region, state, and also customer base. Since those are not fixed the taxes will fluctuate
It is not a violation. The rules specifically targets services, and not taxes. I wish you the best of luck. The new tax regulations went into effect especially the California ones. I noticed those because Hawaii tends to copy California when it comes to tax laws.
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You are incorrect. Taxes result from legislation. Legislation is written to specify what the taxes are. For example the new MTS in CA is 8.51%. As my base plan is fixed at $40, the percentage on that will always be the same. And you are missing the main point. 47 CFR 64.2401 - Truth-in-Billing requires all phone services to be detailed in a statement to subscribers. T-Mobile refuses to do so for prepaid plans. There is no exception in the regulation for prepaid plans. They are required to provide a monthly statement, especially when the amount they are charging me keeps changing. I am entitled under the law to know what they are charging me for. Otherwise they could be "cramming" me, for which they have already been found guilty in the past.
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Truth in Billing specifically points to services that carriers charge for. Taxes are not services... So exactly where does it say taxes? You can argue number 4, but in context it points to services rendered and providers.
Truth-In-Billing Policy | Federal Communications Commission
(1) provide a brief, clear, non-misleading, plain language description of the service or services rendered to accompany each charge; (2) identify the service provider associated with each charge; (3) clearly and conspicuously identify any change in service provider; (4) contain full and non-misleading descriptions of charges; (5) identify those charges for which failure to pay will not result in disconnection of the customer's basic local service; (6) provide a toll-free number for customers to call in order to lodge a complaint or obtain information; (7) place charges from third parties that are not telephone companies in a distinct section of the bill, separate from telephone company charges; and (8) provide a separate subtotal for third-party charges in the separate bill section and on the payment page.
As you see below they are NOT fixed. Like I said location plays a part in how much you pay. Even to go as far to say just going into another city and making a 10 minute+ phone call affects how much you pay because if they can charge you more they'll surely do it. Anything that a company collects in tax must be paid to California, and the Feds. If a company keeps that tax they'd be in big trouble.
https://www.boe.ca.gov/industry/prepaid_mts_surcharge.html
The BOE calculates the prepaid MTS surcharge rate by adding the:
- Prepaid 911 surcharge rate as determined by the Office of Emergency Services (OES).
- California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) reimbursement fee and telecommunications universal services surcharges.
- Local charges, if applicable
Please see our MTS Rates section for the rates for each city or county and additional information about the components of the prepaid MTS surcharge.
You can look up the current prepaid MTS rate by city or county on our Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services (MTS) Surcharge Rates webpage.
What rate do I charge my customers for prepaid MTS?
If you are making sales of prepaid MTS cards/services from your business location, you should generally charge and collect the correct prepaid MTS rate for the city and/or county where your business is located.
However, even if you do not make the sale at your business location, the sale of prepaid MTS occurs in California and the prepaid MTS surcharge applies when:
- The item is shipped to, or picked up by, your customer at a California location, or
- Your records show that the customer's address is located in California, or
- Your customer provides you an address in California during the sales transaction (for example, a billing address), or
- The mobile telephone number is associated with a location in California.
For purposes of determining the correct prepaid MTS rate to charge, when you do not sell prepaid MTS to the customer at your business location, but one of the above scenarios applies, you should charge the prepaid MTS rate that applies to the above known California location or address of your customer, in the order listed above.
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There's a difference between Cramming and taxes.
If you see rule 7 and 8 if you were getting a 3rd party charge you would see it in it's own section. If they did in the tax section they have to give that to the Feds, and/or to the state of California, and they do get audited to make sure they pay those taxes.
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You're still missing the point. You are talking about where to see things on the bill. T-Mobile will not provide bills for prepaid service. They are required to do so. They are in violation of federal law.
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There is nothing within the rules that state they have to give you a bill. IF they do give you a bill then the rules apply. If they make it easy for you to know what you are paying for aside from taxes then they are not in violation. T-Mobile doesn't allow 3rd party charges last I remember for prepaid and that also include variable charges like premium text messages to alleviate the rules.
taxes are not included as part of the rules. I wish you the best of luck, and maybe the FCC will make the rules more clear sooner than later.
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From the FCC website:
FCC's Truth-in-Billing rules require service providers to:
- Provide clear, factual, plain language descriptions of services for which you are being billed.
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That doesn't mean they have to give you a bill. The rules are in place if they do give you a bill. There's a difference :)
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Also it says Services. Tax is not a service. You have a place to see what you are being charged $40 for and what it entails. The rest isn't part of services.
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I don't know how to make this any clearer for you. T-Mobile will not give me any bills for my service. None. Ever. They claim they do not provide bills for prepaid service. Don't you get it? No bills. No statements. No accounting of what they are charging for anything. This month they charged me $49.22. My base plan is $40. What is the other $9.22 from? They won't tell me. Last month same amount. Month before that, $47 and change. In January, it was $43.70. Do you understand now? I have no way of knowing what the charges are for, because they will not give me a bill. That is not legal.
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If you think TMO is breaking the law, report them to the FCC, the State Attorney General or the US Attorney.
Alternatively, switch to a postpaid account, which will provide you with a (higher) bill.
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You can log into MyT-Mobile to get an outline of what you are paying for. There is nothing in truth of billing saying they have to give you a bill more than services. As outlined earlier you are paying taxes
E911 you pay $1.99
Then you got stat regulatory fees, and Fed(generally around $3-5 and varies)
You pay at least 8% in sales tax(varies by location) applies after those fees not before
Doing the math should be around $8-10.
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Where online does it break down the components of my monthly charge? That was all I asked for when this all started. T-Mobile says that I cannot see that even online because I have a prepaid plan. Customer Service can't even tell me what it is. They say no such break down exists. So than how do they determine how much to charge me each month? Somewhere in accounting they are making that determination. Why can't I get that? We're not expected to pay for anything else by being presented with an amount due and no itemization of what is included in that total. That is all I am asking. Just give me something online where each month I can see the itemization of what I am paying.
Sent from my iPhone
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You have the $40 plan correct? Which you can see online and a quick search you are paying for unlimited calling, unlimited text, and 3GB of high speed data.
Prepaid doesn't allow 3rd party purchases.
Prepaid doesn't allow premium SMS billing.
You are aware of the new tax laws, and I broke it down for you which is in range of what you said you are paying extra. As I pointed out it isn't fixed fee just by simply pointing one county over can change how much you pay. California has some of the most idiotic money grab tax laws invented.
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Thats what the plan covers but where does it show how many calls I made and to whom and how long they lasted? I know I have seen it in the past but cannot find it.
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I wonder about this to. My plan is prepaid 30.00 per month through Walmart. Where it shows payment due it says $30.00 but I get charged 32.78. 2.78 is the new tax. I get 100 minutes talk time. I rarely use talk but this month it showed me reaching my 100 minutes. No text to tell me I reach the limit.Had to have someone tell me they couldn't get through. No where online can i find what calls I made and to whom and how long. I know I have seen it in the past. I know I didn't use 100 minutes of talk time. With your 40.00 plan it should be telling you what calls were made and where did you go over your plan that they are billing you for.
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I had an idea. Not online, but on your phone, check the CALL LOGS. That should show each call anyway and you can see if you are over your plan. I doubt it will shows taxes and fees though
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Prepaid service does not provide any billing statements or usage details. That's just the way it is. There is no getting around this fact.
Want detailed billing statements and usage logs? Switch to a postpaid account. Or stick with prepaid and live with its limitations. Those are the options. I'm not sure what else to say on this matter...
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You can see your call details on your Call History on your phone. Can't see tax or fee but that might help is seeing how your minutes were billed.
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