Charter Must Pay $39 Million Tax Award, Missouri Court Affirms

Two Charter Communications Inc. subsidiaries are on the hook for a $39 million judgment in a class action brought by Missouri cities seeking to collect unpaid business license taxes, a state appeals court said.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, rejected Charter Fiberlink–Missouri LLC and Charter Advanced Services (MO) LLC’s arguments that VoIP, or voice over internet protocol, service isn’t a taxable “telecommunications service” but an exempt “information service.”

“The record abounds in support of the trial court’s conclusion that Charter is a telephone company providing telephone service, albeit through the use of VoIP technology, which readily satisfies both ...