Here’s something you might have missed — there could soon be a new tax on your broadband Internet service, if the Federal Communications Commission has its way. The proposed tax would go toward ensuring more people have access to the Internet, along the lines of the taxes already consumers pay for landlines and cellular phone service.

The FCC asked for comments on the proposal back in April, but as TheHill.com notes, not much attention has been paid to the idea so far in the general public. However plenty of companies are already onboard with the idea, including AT&T, Sprint and Google, so it’s about time we started paying more attention.

So where would all that money go? Toward the Connect America Fund, which is a new entity as of last year with a goal of expanding Internet access, similar to the Universal Service fund. That fund had a face-lift of about $4.5 billion in changes aimed at the Internet sector, which was how the CAF was created.

New taxes are no fun for anyone, but the CAF is staring at a hole of 19 million Americans without Internet access and this is one way to plug it.

*Thanks for the tip, George!

FCC eyes tax on Internet service [TheHill.com]

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