NEWS

California to Consider Taxing Text Messages in 2019

Joe Simonson •   December 13, 2018

California regulators are currently contemplating whether residents would have to pay a fee on text messages from their cellphones.

The proposed tax would help fund programs in the state that provides low-income Californians with phone service and will be discussed further during the January 2019 meeting by the California Public Utilities Commission.

California to Consider Taxing Text Messages in 2019

The rational from California regulators is this: Text messaging uses the same cell towers as phone calls, yet do not face similar fees—particularly in the era where voice calls have dropped precipitously over the last number of years.

A number of business groups are already criticizing the bill, saying that Californians could start seeing taxes of over $44 million annually. Other wireless carriers, like Apple, might be immune from the charges because of apps like iMessage.

The exact amount of the fee has not yet been decided.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email [email protected].

Joe Simonson | Contributor
Joe Simonson is a reporter for The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Follow on X SaysSimonson
Oneil The Woketopus book cover

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.
You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.