If you missed last night's deadline for making FCC regulatory fee payments, there's good news. The FCC extended the deadline by 48 hours; Fees are now due by September 16 at 11:59 pm.
Late payments after that date are subject to a mandatory, non-waivable late fee of 25% of the amount due.
As in years, past, we're tracking the FCC Regulatory fees for you. The Regulatory Fee is an annual assessment mandated by Congress to recover most of the FCC's cost of doing business. Regulatory fees are recovered directly from the entities the FCC regulates. As I've noted before, the FCC collects nearly half of its fees from telecommunications carriers, an amount that I believe is disproportionate to the FCC's overall activities.
The due date for regulatory fees varies from year to year, but the FCC must collect regulatory fees before the end of the fiscal year on September 30. This year, the FCC announced that the fee is due on September 14th by 12 midnight. As with the past few years, the FCC does not mail invoices and payments are due on-line. Also, a late fee of 25% of the amount due is assessed on all late payments (no exceptions).
See Kelley Drye's client advisory on the topic for more information. For those paying regulatory fees, see the links below for more detail on where and how to pay the fees. As a reminder, our Resource Center contains helpful links to the FCC and other sites of interest to regulated entities.
The FCC released a host of public notices today concerning the FY 2011 Regulatory fees. The public notice announcing the due date is available here. Also, see these links for FCC instructions on using its mandatory fee filer system and on methods and procedures for making payment. Service-specific instructions are available as well, the most common of which are available below:
Additional information is available on the FCC regulatory fee website.
According to the FCC's weekly list of pending items on circulation, the Commission appears ready to resolve a longstanding petition by an interconnected VoIP provider to cancel its 2007 FCC regulatory fee. The ruling could have impact on future regulatory fee assessments, but the specific relief relating to 2007 (if the petitioner is successful) is likely to be limited to the petitioner.
See below for more on the pending action.
Every week, the FCC releases a list of items that are under consideration by the full Commission. (In FCC parlance, these are items that are "on circulation" before the Commissioners). The current list reports that the Commission is examining an NPRM to assess the FY 2011 FCC Regulatory Fee. In addition, the list includes an action on Vonage's June 2008 challenge to the imposition of FCC regulatory fees on it. As you will recall, in 2006, the FCC ruled that interconnected VoIP providers must contribute to the Universal Service Fund. Over time, the FCC applied a variety of other rules to interconnected VoIP providers on a case-by-case basis. One such rule was the obligation to pay FCC Regulatory Fees, which the Commission first applied in the 2007 Regulatory Fee order. (For background on the Regulatory Fee, see this post on the Telecom Law Monitor.
However, Vonage Holdings Corporation, an interconnected VoIP provider, challenged the FCC's regulatory fee invoice for FY 2007. In its Application for Review, Vonage principally contends that the 2007 fee is unlawful because the FCC order did not take effect until November 15, 2007, after the end of fiscal year 2007 (which ended on September 30, 2007). Vonage argues that the FCC can only assess regulatory fees "during" the fiscal year for which they are authorized, and that the fee here was not collected during FY 2007. Vonage's request has been pending for several years, with little apparent activity. (In fact, the last ex parte filed by Vonage was in October 2009.)
Even if Vonage is successful, it is unlikely that the FCC will extend the relief to other interconnected VoIP providers. To our knowledge, other interconnected VoIP providers have not challenged their FY 2007 invoices. Other providers would have a difficult time presenting such a claim at this late date.
It's official -- FCC regulatory fees are due on August 31. Here are the links you will need to make payment by the deadline:
FCC announcement of the August 31 deadline
FCC public notice -- Payment methods and procedures
FCC public notice - Fee filer system
FCC public notice -- ITSP fees (with payment code)
FCC public notice -- Commercial wireless fees (with payment code)
In July, we reported that the FCC had adopted its FY 2010 regulatory fee schedule. In past years, regulatory fees were due in September, usually in the third week of the month. However, it looks like this year's fee will be due significantly earlier -- by August 31, 2010.
The first hint of an earlier due date appears in the FCC Regulatory Fee Order released on July 9. The order did not establish a due date for regulatory fees, but the Commission stated that it intended to collect fees "during an August 2010 filing window." (see paragraph 1). That made us curious, but not convinced. Last week, however, the FCC released a public notice concerning fees for its radio and TV licensees. That public notice states that the media services fee is "due no later than 11:59 PM, ET, on August 31, 2010." This seems a pretty good indication that fees for all filers will be due earlier than in years past.
Given that late-paid regulatory fees are subject to a mandatory, non-waivable 25% late payment penalty, carriers should plan accordingly.
Following on the release of the 2010-11 TRS Fund contribution factor, the Commission today released its final regulatory fee schedule for FY 2010. The Commission adopted a telecommunications provider fee that is slightly lower than it proposed in April. The regulatory fee for telecommunications providers (including audio bridging providers) is $0.00349 per revenue dollar reported on the April 1, 2010 Form 499-A.
The Commission acknowledged that telecommunications providers pay 46% of all regulatory fees, which several carriers had argued is a disproportionately large percentage of the total amount collected by the FCC. (And I agree.) Recognizing these concerns, the Commission announced that it would be releasing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to "rebalance" its regulatory fees in the future.
Regulatory fee payments will be due by the end of September and are subject to a 25% late payment penalty if not paid on time. As with last year, the FCC will not mail bills to telecommunications carriers. Carriers are required to check the FCC regulatory fee web page for payment information before the September due date.
On April 13, the FCC released its proposed schedule of FY 2010 FCC Regulatory Fees. By law, the FCC is obligated to collect $335 million in fees in FY 2010 from the entities that it regulates. This order identifies how the FCC proposes to allocate the fees. Among the highlights:
The Commission has requested comment on these proposals. It will adopt a final regulatory fee schedule in July. Regulatory fee payments will be due by the end of September and are subject to a 25% late payment penalty if not paid on time.
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