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Florida Ranks Fourth Nationwide In High Cellphone Taxes

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The next time you open your cellphone bill and feel it's overpriced, don’t blame your carrier alone.

Florida ranks fourth in the nation with the highest state-local taxes imposed on cellphones at 16.55 percent, according to a recent study.

The Tax Foundation tracked tax rates across different states to see how much customers were paying on their phone bills.

The study found on average, Americans pay 17.05 percent in combined federal, state, and local taxes and fees on their cellphone bills.  

Credit www.taxfoundation.org

Joseph Henchman, vice president of operations with the Tax Foundation,  says people need to start asking their local and state governments about how these taxes are being used.

He says most customers only pay attention to the final line on their bill, the total amount.

But if customers took a closer look, some -- like Florida residents, would be shocked at the percentage that goes toward taxes.

“There are a lot of lines in there, a lot of different taxes and fees and charges and so forth and we wanted a resource to be out there so people can find out what those are,” Henchman says.

Floridians pay more taxes on their cellphones than they do items like cigarettes.

Don’t like it?

You could move to another state with a smaller tax burden. Oregon, Nevada and Idaho residents pay less than 5 percent in taxes on their cellphone bills.

The states with the highest rates include Washington (18.60), Nebraska (18.48), New York (17.74) and Illinois (15.81).

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