Taxes, fees, and surcharges on your bill

Listed under each service on your bill, you'll see taxes, fees and surcharges collected by Brightspeed. Some of these appear under the heading "Taxes, Fees and Surcharges," while others may appear under "Recurring Charges" or "Related Monthly Charges."

We can't quote your specific taxes, fees, and surcharges because those charges vary by location and service, which creates thousands of possibilities.

To see an estimate of your taxes and fees based on the specifics of your order, you can start an online order and click the yellow "Continue" button to advance to the detailed charges screen. You do not have to complete the order.

Yellow 'Continue' button shown at bottom of order estimate

Fees and Taxes estimate after clicking 'Continue' on order

Taxes and surcharges

Taxes are imposed by federal, state, local, and municipal governments, and vary based on where you live and the services you receive. Certain surcharges, such as mandated 911 surcharges, also fall under this category. We're required to bill you directly for those charges on behalf of the relevant government authority.

Similarly, some surcharges are billed on behalf of the government and collected through customer fees. The Federal Universal Service Fund surcharge is an example of one of those fees, with the amount calculated as a percentage of the bill.

Check your bill for details

Taxes, fees, and surcharges are listed under each of your Brightspeed services in the "Details" section of your bill. If you have multiple products or services, you will see taxes, fees and surcharges listed in a separate section for each one. Federal, state and local laws dictate which products and services are assessed certain charges, so you may see a surcharge with the same name appear on your bill more than one time if it is required on different services.

Can the amounts change each month?

Many taxes, fees, and surcharges are a predictable, flat monthly rate. You may notice, however, that others can vary month to month. There are a few reasons that this happens:

Rates can increase or decrease based on federal, state and local government assessments.
If the pre-tax cost of a service varies monthly based on usage (for example, long distance charges), then some taxes, fees, and surcharges that are a percentage of the base amount will vary as well.
If you've recently moved to a different taxing jurisdiction, then your taxes may change, based on the rates for your new address.

Looking for more information?

For details about a particular tax, fee, or surcharge, simply search for it using the name of the charge as it is listed on your bill, or find it in the menu on the right side of this page.