City Amusement Tax - Evanston, IL

Acutally, it's a very fun place, just broke.  And I get it that Comcast is just collecting a city tax - but they are doing it wrong.  It's a 5% tax and I'm paying $3.51 which means I'm paying the tax on $70.20.  Since my total bill (TV, Internet, Voice) for my Xfinity plan is $105, and the tax is only supposed to be for streaming, somthing is wrong.

So, who can tell me how this tax is calculated?  At a very minimum, how can I make sure that the City is getting the $$$ that are being collected?

Hi @brennerph, 

Thanks for posting to the Xfinity Forum and sharing your feedback. For more information about how the tax is imposed, computed, or how your city collects the fees, please review sections 1-4 of that document. For more information, check out these links: 

Learn More about the Taxes, Fees and Other Charges on Your Bill, 

Your local Comcast service rate information is available. 

Thanks for the info @ComcastChe.  Unfortunately, it doesn't answer my question.  The first document simply gives an overview of the types of taxes and fees (there are many!!!) - no specifics.  The second document is simply a list of Comcast fees - no info on City Amusement Tax.

You state "For more information about how the tax is imposed, computed, or how your city collects the fees, please review sections 1-4 of that document. "  I can't figure out what document you are referring to.  Can you help?

Actually, the Evanston Ordnance (link in my original post) says that the tax rate is 5% and it applies only to streaming services. 

Based on the ordnance and the fact that Comcast is charging $3.51/month for the 5% Evanston Amusement Tax, it means that I am receicving $70.20/month in streaming services.  This makes no sense!!!

I'm no tax attorney but under section 3-2-17-2 (definitions) it lists amusement as…"(E) Any  paid  television  programming,  whether  transmitted by wire, cable, fiber  optics, laser, microwave, radio,  satellite  or similar means;  (F)  Any  video  streaming, audio  streaming or online  games delivered  electronically  to mobile devices. "  So even though the title says it amends something to include streaming, the definitions section and the section before seems to include all these other "amusements".

All I need to know is how the $3.51 in Evanstonb city amusement tax that appears on my Comcast bill is calculated.  What part of my bill is subject to this tax?  What is the tax % being charged?  Multplying these 2 numbers should be $3.51.

It would seem like someone in Comcast should be able to answer these 2 simple questions pretty easily.