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B-265776 1 (1995-11-29)

handle is hein.gao/gaocrptacez0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Office of the General Counsel B-265776 November 29, 1995 Jim Kranjc Sales/Use Tax Manager Ameritech 30 South Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60606 Dear Mr. Kranjc: By letter dated August 15, 1995, you asked whether federal agencies in the state of Illinois are immune from paying the 9-1-1 emergency telephone surcharge imposed by the state. Apparently, there is a disagreement on this issue between the Illinois Commerce Commission, which contends that the federal government is immune from paying the 9-1-1 surcharge, and the city of Chicago which argues that federal agencies in the state are required to pay the surcharge. Under 31 U.S.C. § 3529, certain federal officials are entitled to receive an advance decision from the Comptroller General concerning an agency's authority to make a particular payment, e.g., a payment for a 9-1-1 surcharge imposed by a state. Although you are not entitled to a Comptroller General decision under this statutory provision, we have summarized our prior decisions on this issue below. We trust this information will be useful to you. In prior decisions on 9-1-1 emergency telephone charges, we have repeatedly stated the unquestioned principle of constitutional law that the United States and its instrumentalities are immune from direct taxation by state and local governments. Direct taxation occurs where the legal incidence of the tax falls directly on the United States as the buyer of goods, Kern-Limerick, Inc. v. Scurlock, 347 U.S. 110 (1954), or as the consumer of services, 53 Comp. Gen. 410 (1973), or as the owner 12011120

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