High Wireless Taxes Crush the Poor and Hurt Everyone Else
Heavy taxation of gasoline? Understandable. Of cell service? Not so smart
Whatever you tax, you discourage. Taxes on tobacco and alcohol discourage smoking and drinking, while taxes on gasoline discourage carbon emissions. Unfortunately those taxes hurt the poor most, since they spend a bigger portion of their income on those products. But nobody would argue that smoking, drinking, and warming the planet are things that society should be encouraging.
In contrast, wireless communication is something that society wants more of. A cell phone is a lifeline in an emergency and an indispensable tool in daily life and business. For the 67% of low-income households that have no wired phone service at home, the cell phone is the only phone. Yet taxes, fees, and surcharges on cell phone service keep drifting higher.