Havasimy

I was just looking at my verizon cellphone bill and happen to glance down at the breakdown of the various taxes and government fees I was being charged. It suddenly sunk in that the PA sales tax (6%) and the Allegheny County sales tax (1%) were listed seperately. Then it further sunk in that I no longer lived in Allegheny County. When I moving out my last place and was still in temp housing in Philly, I switch my cellphone bill address to my parents' address, who don't live in Allegheny County. It's one of the things that I haven't switched to the my current address because I take care of it online anyway. But the point is that I was being charged 1% (about half a dollar) that I shouldn't.

I called up Verizon Wireless and apparently the billing address has nothing to do with what taxes are being charged. It has to do with where the actual number is linked to and since I bought the phone in Allegheny County, it's the location that is used to figure out taxes. So, when their finance department is open tomorrow, I'm going to call them up and get it all fixed. I figure since it's not their money being removed from the bill, they shouldn't give me any problems. I'm not planning on asking for a refund on the taxes for the past few months. I figure it's only a couple of bucks and it should already be in the hands of Allegheny County. Getting a refund might actually cost them more than the refund amount. I'll just consider it a minor donation to the county that I still spend a fair amount of time in when I'm back home.

By the way, there's no sales tax difference between my current place and my parents', so it doesn't cost me or save me to keep the bills going to their place.