Blog.MrHacks.com

Attention AT&T: You are not the government! So don’t tax us like you are!

There is a saying that goes “Don’t steal. The Government Hates Competition.” Well, AT&T feels obliged to challenge that by charging Missouri’s 1,000,000 land line customers a $6.10 municipal tax. The municipality doesn’t see any of that money, as proven by an angry Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery, Sr.

Here is what happened. A few years ago, there was a lawsuit in Missouri where AT&T was told to pay a $65 Million settlement back to 300 cities in the state of Missouri including Florissant, University City, and unincorporated St. Louis County. However, AT&T is taking it out on their land line customers that they are suppost to be paying back by charging them $6.10 Municipal tax that was suppost to occur once. The Missouri technology tax is only about $4 for ever $100. St. Louis County only charges about $2. But AT&T, being AT&T, has decided to charge this $6.10 tax that they made up against their land line customers FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS!.

So instead of paying back it’s customers in 300 cities in Missouri the $65 Million in back taxes, they will make a profit off the 1 Million Missouri customers of about $73.2 Million each year for the next 4 years. (If you think that is not that much, There are only about 5.9 Million people who live in Missouri. meaning about 1 in 6 people in our state will be paying an extra $73.20 per year.) In the end they will make up more than $292.8 Million, nearly four and a half times the value of the the initial settlement.

AT&T gets to make money off the customers they are suppost to be paying back, and there is no law against it! After this incident, customers will want laws against what AT&T is doing! The fact that private industry is create a tax in addition to what customers are paying them is concerning and should be a wake up call to how the government regulates business practices.