California is no longer pursing a text message tax plan.
The news was revealed via a Tweet that was sent out by the official California PUC Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account on Friday. The tweet notes that the decision not to pursue a text message tax plan is due to a recent ruling from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The new rule from the FCC says that text messaging is an information service and not a telecommunications service. It notes that state authority over information services are limited due to the Federal Telecommunications act.
Here’s a statement
from California PUC concerning the new ruling from the FCC.
“In light of the FCC’s action, assigned Commissioner Carla J. Peterman has withdrawn from the CPUC’s Jan. 10, 2019 Voting Meeting agenda the draft decision in Docket R. 17-06-023, which proposed to clarify that text messaging service should be subject to the statutory surcharge requirement.”
The end of the text message tax plan in California comes shortly after its introduction. The idea started to circulate online last week as a way for the state to bring in more taxes for its subsidizing programs for low-income individuals.
The California text message tax plan didn’t go without ridicule. Following the announcement of the plan, we looked online to see reactions from Twitter users and it was mostly negative, with many making fun of the idea.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
