4th September 2007

No More Taxes!!! Help Stop Discriminatory Tax on Satellite Television

Attention Dish Network Subscribers, we need your help in stopping discriminatory taxes against direct broadcast satellite services. Dish Network is known for having the lowest all digital price for pay television and  the cable companies are always trying to raise satellite televisions prices by lobbing the state governments to apply an unfair sales tax to Dish Network subscribers.

Presently the Cable industry is lobbying several states to pass the Internet Tax Moratorium Bill which carries a stipulation that will make Dish Network customers pay higher sales taxes.  This bill will require states and municipalities to implement tax on satellite service.  Both DISH Network and DirecTV are supporting an amendment known as the DBS Amendment to the Internet Tax Moratorium Bill that will require states and municipalities to implement the same tax on satellite services as they do on cable services.

It’s known that Dish Network constantly wins over cable on price, quality, and customer service and Dish Network continues to be the benchmark disincentive against cable rate increases.  Because of Dish Networks low prices, the cable industry lobbies states to impose discriminatory DBS taxes. This tax that cable is trying to get passed will artificially inflate the cost of satellite-TV service.

We all are tired of taxes, especially those that are designed to restrain a consumer’s choice.  The cable industry can not compete in a fair market because of their huge costly infrastructure and overhead. So to level their playing field, they rather tax satellite customers and increase their bills.

Why doesn’t cable do as Dish Network does and negotiate cost effective carriage deals with programmers and look for efficient and cost-effective ways to deliver digital televisions? As the mandatory digital conversion approaches, which is only 18 months away, cable will be a in money crunch to switch their customers from analog to digital. So cable will do what they do best, raise rates and try to raise satellite customer’s rates.

If you’re a customer in a state with discriminatory sales taxes, the cable companies are attacking your right to choose a cheaper better alternative. Currently, these states with Discriminatory DBS Taxes are Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Utah.

Its time to take action and let the cable companies that Satellite customers are not going to pay for their decaying and obsolete cable systems. Please tell Congress to support fair sales taxes for all pay television subscribers!

Please call Congress at (202) 225-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Member of Congress. Simply leave a message with your Member and then ask to be transferred to the staffer who handles Judiciary Committee issues.
 

Don’t let the cable companies use taxes to justify their outrageously high prices!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Dish News, Cable Versus Dish Network. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 3 responses to “No More Taxes!!! Help Stop Discriminatory Tax on Satellite Television”

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  1. 1 On October 2nd, 2007, phelanit said:

    Since when did it become okay to tax an equal pay TV service more? Nice job big brother goverment! Guess those cable lobbyists are doing there job! I encourage everyone to make the call. In fact let’s get the The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) passed so everyone can play by the same rules.

  2. 2 On October 19th, 2007, Uncle Chuck said:

    Saw this in www.skyreport.com

    Judge: Satellite TV Tax Unconstitutional
    A judge in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County, ruled Wednesday that a sales tax on satellite TV subscribers violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause. After the decision, DIRECTV and EchoStar applauded the ruling saying the tide is turning on sales taxes that discriminate against satellite subscribers.

    Ohio Judge Daniel Hogan’s decision established the satellite-specific taxes as unconstitutional and discriminatory as they undermine free and fair commerce between the states. In response, EchoStar and DIRECTV reiterated their positions that taxing satellite subscribers more than cable subscribers is “illogical (and) unfair because no group of consumers should be singled out for a heavier tax burden based solely on what technology they use, particularly when they are predominately rural or price-sensitive.”

    Together the companies said Judge Hogan’s conclusions are not isolated, citing U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers’ (D-MI) recently introduced State Video Tax Fairness Act of 2007. The bipartisan-supported bill would prohibit states from taxing any pay-TV service differently from others.

    “We believe state legislatures should heed Judge Hogan, Chairman Conyers, and an increasing number of public officials and eliminate discriminatory sales taxes for good,” the companies said in a statement.

  3. 3 On October 21st, 2007, OCBuckeye said:

    I knew those Ohio people were smart ones. To bad we couldn;t go to the World Series this year. We still have OSU. O H I O Go Buckeyes

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