Tax Foundation:  State and Local Governments Impose Hefty Taxes on Cell Phone Consumers:

U.S. wireless consumers pay an average 17.18% in taxes and fees on their cell phone bill, including 11.36% in state and
local charges, according to a newly released study that identifies and calculates wireless taxes and fees.

In Nebraska, the combined federal-state-local average rate is 24.49%, and in six other states (Washington, New York, Florida, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Missouri) it exceeds 20%. Twenty-six states have average state-local wireless taxes and fees in excess of 10%, and taking into account the infamous federal telephone excise tax (dating to the Spanish-American War and partly repealed in 2006), cell phone subscribers in seven states pay more than 20 percent in taxes. (See the table for a full list.)

Table: Taxes and Fees on Wireless Service, July 2012

State	State-Local Rate	Combined Federal-State-Local Rate	Rank
U.S. Simple Average	10.15%	15.97%
U.S. Weighted Average	11.36%	17.18%
District of Columbia	11.62%	17.44%	(17)
Nebraska	18.67%	24.49%	1
Washington	18.62%	24.44%	2
New York	17.85%	23.67%	3
Florida	16.59%	22.41%	4
Illinois	15.94%	21.76%	5
Rhode Island	14.68%	20.50%	6
Missouri	14.29%	20.11%	7
Pennsylvania	14.13%	19.95%	8
South Dakota	13.13%	18.95%	9
Kansas	13.11%	18.93%	10
Arizona	12.98%	18.80%	11
Maryland	12.77%	18.59%	12
Utah	12.67%	18.49%	13
Texas	12.15%	17.97%	14
Alaska	12.09%	17.91%	15
Tennessee	11.63%	17.45%	16
Arkansas	11.54%	17.36%	17
Oklahoma	11.48%	17.30%	18
New Mexico	11.08%	16.90%	19
North Dakota	10.96%	16.78%	20
California	10.95%	16.77%	21
Indiana	10.86%	16.68%	22
Colorado	10.82%	16.64%	23
Kentucky	10.54%	16.36%	24
South Carolina	10.07%	15.89%	25
Minnesota	9.53%	15.35%	26
Mississippi	9.23%	15.05%	27
New Jersey	8.91%	14.73%	28
Georgia	8.78%	14.60%	29
North Carolina	8.51%	14.33%	30
New Hampshire	8.21%	14.03%	31
Vermont	8.10%	13.92%	32
Ohio	8.04%	13.86%	33
Iowa	7.95%	13.77%	34
Massachusetts	7.85%	13.67%	35
Wyoming	7.79%	13.61%	36
Michigan	7.69%	13.51%	37
Hawaii	7.53%	13.35%	38
Alabama	7.49%	13.31%	39
Connecticut	7.41%	13.23%	40
Maine	7.27%	13.09%	41
Wisconsin	7.24%	13.06%	42
Louisiana	7.21%	13.03%	43
Virginia	6.60%	12.42%	44
West Virginia	6.38%	12.20%	45
Delaware	6.28%	12.10%	46
Montana	6.09%	11.91%	47
Idaho	2.28%	8.10%	48
Nevada	2.13%	7.95%	49
Oregon	1.85%	7.67%	50