Not that Illinois residents pay the highest overall tax rates in the country, or the second-highest property tax, or some of the highest gasoline prices from coast to coast… oh, wait.
It really is. So, add taxes on cordless phones to the list of what we overpay for here in Illinois.
Admittedly, I was surprised at how much our cell phone bills increase if you add up the federal, state and local tax rates on cell phones in Illinois. You might be surprised too.
TaxFoundation.Org I looked at individual states, which states pay the most taxes on cellular communications — and Illinois became the clear winner (even if it doesn’t look like a victory).
Before you reveal the answer, would you like to guess what percentage of taxes is your cell phone bill in Illinois?
If you answered “A little less than 35%”, pat yourself on… well… an empty wallet (in fact, it’s 34.9%).
TheCenterSquare.com:
“In Illinois, the highest rate is just under 35% of your wireless bill, which goes to taxes and fees,” Justin Carlson of the Illinois Institute of Politics told The Center Square.
The federal tax rate on wireless data plans is 12.24%. The Illinois state tax on wireless data plans of 22.65% is the most expensive for cell phone users nationwide.
No other Midwestern state made the top ten of the list, as North Dakota ranked 11th.”
Here in Illinois, we pay the most — but people all over the country shell out a lot of money for phone taxes
We can pay more taxes on wireless here in Illinois, but make no mistake, Americans pay a lot of money all over the country. It is estimated that the cost of taxes, fees and government surcharges on wireless phones is more than $11 billion per year.
IllinoisPolicy.org reports that according to their calculations, a family living in Chicago on a four-line tariff plan worth $ 100 per month pays 34% of their bill for taxes, while the same family in New York pays 20%.