Is that a tax on your bill, or did they invent it?
Type any charge from your bill below. You will get a straight answer, what it costs you a year, and where your provider says it themselves.
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These are the charges people find on their bills most often. Each one says who sets it, what it costs, and whether it is a real tax or the company’s own invention. If yours is not here, type it into the box above.
Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge
Verizon · $3.78 a voice line, $3.97 a data line
Verizon sets this. No law requires it and no government receives it. It went up in August 2025, from a $3.40 charge plus a $3.30 charge to the current figures, with no announcement and no consent.
Administrative & Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee
AT&T · $4.99 a line a month
AT&T sets this. It went up on 5 August 2026 from $3.99 to $4.99, the second rise in eight months after $3.49 to $3.99 on 1 December 2025. The word "regulatory" in the name does a lot of work: it recovers what AT&T spends on compliance, it is not a charge any regulator levies.
Non-Internet Customer Surcharge
Optimum Mobile · $20 a month PER LINE
Optimum Mobile only. $20 a line from the third bill unless Optimum Internet is linked. Linking is free.
Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee
T-Mobile · $4.49 a voice line, $2.10 a mobile internet line
T-Mobile sets this and keeps it. It rose again in January 2026, from $3.99 to $4.49 a voice line, less than a year after the previous rise. Because it sits outside the advertised plan price, raising it does not count as raising the price, which is how it survives a price guarantee.
Regulatory Recovery Fee / Regulatory Charge
most carriers · usually $0.20 to $3 a line
Despite the name, this is not government-mandated. It is a surcharge the carrier adds to help cover what federal, state and local regulation costs them. The money stays with the company.
Broadcast TV Fee
Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox, most cable TV · $25 to $27 a month
One of the largest invented charges on any bill. It covers what the cable company pays local stations, which is an ordinary cost of doing business that used to sit inside the advertised price. It sits OUTSIDE promotional pricing, so it rises even while your rate is locked.
Regional Sports Network Fee
Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox, DirecTV · $11.50 to $19.20 a month
Charged whether or not you watch sport. Like the Broadcast TV Fee it sits outside promotional pricing, and Consumer Reports has recorded these fees rising by as much as 50 percent in a year.
HD Technology Fee
Xfinity · about $10 a month
A charge for high definition, which has been the standard picture for well over a decade. It is a line item rather than a cost.
Network Enhancement / Internet Infrastructure Surcharge
various cable providers · $3 to $15 a month
Presented as though a regulator requires it. No regulator does. It is the cost of running a network, which is what the service charge is already for, itemised a second time.
Wi-Fi Technology Fee
various cable providers · $3 to $15 a month
A company charge for a feature built into the equipment you are usually already renting from them.
Equipment rental
Xfinity $14, Cox $13, Spectrum $5 for the router · $5 to $15 a month
Not a fee at all, a rental, and usually the easiest money on the whole bill. A compatible modem and router costs $100 to $200 once and pays for itself inside a year. AT&T Fiber, Verizon Fios, T-Mobile, Google Fiber, Frontier Fiber and Optimum include equipment at no charge.
Franchise Fee
cable TV providers · commonly 3 to 5 percent of video charges
A genuine payment to your local authority for use of public rights of way, so this one is real. But it is charged as a percentage of your video charges, which means it falls when the video part of your bill falls.
Late Fee
most providers · commonly $10, or 1.5 percent a month at Cox
A company charge, and one of the easiest to have reversed on a first occurrence, especially on a long-standing account.
A charge the company invented is a charge the company can remove. That is the whole point of knowing the difference.