Program Information
Home Page
ATEL's Six Point Telecom & Data Auditing
Services
ATEL
specialists have been auditing telecom and data invoices for clients
since 1989. Following is a brief description of the six point auditing
service that can be done for businesses once, quarterly or on a monthly
basis.
- 2006 IRS Federal Excise Tax on Telecom Refund
On May 25, 2006 the
U.S. Treasury Department today announced it conceded the legal
dispute over the federal excise tax (FET) on long-distance telephone
service and
IRS will issue refunds of tax on long-distance service for the
past three years. Taxpayers will be able to apply for refunds on
their 2006 tax forms, to be filed in 2007.
Telecom auditing and tax professionals estimate that an average FET
refund for businesses might equal about 150% of what they spend each
month on their telephone and cellular bills. Businesses that spend
$1,000 a month should see a $1,500 refund.
- Carrier Installation Overcharges
It is not unusual for telecom and data providers to quote a low
installation rate for their own service and then pass on a higher
installation rate for a complimentary service provider. An example
is when a business orders a long distance data circuit from but has
the local service provider install the service.
As a customer's monthly usage is variable, peaks in usage often mask
one-time installation charges that were neither quoted by the
carrier or approved by the business.
- Carrier Monthly Tariff Overcharges
Many businesses are unaware that carrier tariffs often allow
carriers to raise contracted rates after providing only obscure and
often overlooked notice. While these automatic rate increases are
often repealed when a customer complains, only active monthly
customer auditing will spot the overcharges.
- Carrier Tax & "Surcharge" Overcharges
While carriers are required to remit taxes to the government
based on the usage of their customers, the government does not
mandate that the carriers collect these taxes from their customers.
In many cases the government authorizes a carrier to charge more in
taxes then they are required to remit. In almost all cases the
carrier charges their customers the maximum taxes allowed by law
even though they could charge much lower taxes.
In addition, many of the surcharges carriers add to the taxes &
surcharges part of their bill are not mandated by the government at
all. Many carrier surcharges are simply a profit pad for the
carrier.
- Anti-Competitive Contract Renewals & Market Rate Overcharges
Many businesses are shocked to learn their carrier service
agreements are renewed for additional two or three-year terms
because they didn't "provide written notice between 30 and 60 days
or the expiration date". Most customers assume their multi-year
agreements revert to month-to-month agreements after the initial
term. This is rarely true anymore.
Unless they actively negotiate their carrier contracts in advance
with professionals knowledgeable of market rates, many businesses
find they have been automatically committed by their carrier
agreements to paying telecom and data rates that far exceed current
market rates.
- Month-to-Month Credit & Refund Tracking
Who's making sure last month's promised credits are showing up
on this month's invoice? while it takes a great deal of energy to
find and claim telecom and data credits and refunds it takes an
equal amount of energy to make sure carriers "don't forget" to apply
them when they say they are going to apply them.
A classic example is monthly telecom line charges. These line
charges are actually billed a month in advance so that on your
November phone bill you're actually paying for your December line
charges. (Kind of like charging you "first and last months rent".
You're supposed to get this back as a refund on your last invoice.)
Unless someone is charged with tracking and reporting credits and
refunds it is likely that many will be lost to carriers that
"forget".
Why
Use
ATEL Invoice Auditing Services
To get expert services you
need to call upon the services of an expert. ATEL specialists have been
providing phone and data invoice auditing services for almost two
decades. ATEL auditing clients enjoy one-time, quarterly or monthly
written audit reports to ensure that they are not being overcharged by
the phone and data carriers now or in the future.
To learn more about ATEL innovative programs
and services please call Dan Baldwin at 858-646-4655 or
e-mail
Dan@ATELcc.com.
|
