FY 2020 Regulatory Fees Due September 25, 2020

On September 4, 2020, the Commission released several Public Notices regarding procedures for the FY 2020 regulatory fees.  The FY 2020 regulatory fees must be paid in full and payment received by the Commission no later than 11:59 PM ET on September 25, 2020. 

• Payment Methods and Procedures for FY 2020 Regulatory Fees Public Notice
  • Industry-specific guidance, information regarding payment and requesting payment relief, payment instructions, and other important information can be found at the Commission’s website: http://www.fcc.gov/regfees
  • Licensees and regulatees must use the Commission’s automated filing and payment system (“Fee Filer”).  Payments in the form of checks, money orders, and cashier’s checks will not be accepted.  Bills are available for viewing in the “Regulatory Fee” link of Fee Filer.
  • Licensees and regulatees may pay their regulatory fees through the following methods:
    • Credit card (online) via Fee Filer
    • Wire transfer
    • ACH (Automated Clearing House) / debit from bank account (online) via Fee Filer
    • Visa or MasterCard debit cards (online) via Fee Filer
  • A Form 159-E voucher is required if the regulatee is making a wire transfer payment.  All payments made by wire transfer (payable to the Federal Communications Commission) must be supported by faxing the “Wire Transfer Instructions” from Fee Filer to the Federal Communications Commission at (202) 418-2843 at least one hour before initiating the wire transfer, but on the same business day, so as not to delay crediting their  account.
  • Due to limits on credit card transactions, customers wishing to pay an amount greater than $24, 9999.99 should consider electronic alternatives such as Visa or MasterCard debit cards, Automated Clearing House debits from a bank account, and wire transfers.  Each of these options is available after filing regulatory fee information in Fee Filer.

• Fee Filer Public Notice
  • The Commission’s automated filing and payment system (“Fee Filer”) is open for payment of FY 2020 regulatory fees.
  • While FY 2020 regulatory fees will not become effective until the rulemaking is published in the Federal Register, regulatees may submit payments at any time before the effective due date of FY 2020 regulatory fees at their own discretion.

• Requests for Waiver, Reduction, Deferral and Installment Payments of FY 2020 Regulatory Fees – Procedures Public Notice
• The Commission anticipates that some regulatees will require fee relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the Commission’s authority to provide relief is limited.  Fee relief may be granted only to those regulatees “unambiguously articulating ‘extraordinary circumstances’ outweighing the public interest in recouping the cost of the Commissions regulatory services.”  Parties seeking waiver, reduction, deferral, or installment payments of FY 2020 regulatory fees must send their requests with supporting documentation to [email protected] before the September, 25, 2020 payment deadline.
• A request to waive and/or defer payment of FY 2020 regulatory fees based on financial hardship must include supporting financial documents such as tax returns, a balance sheet or profit and loss statement (audited if possible), cashflow projections for the next 12 months, or a list of officers and highest paid individual employees with each person’s compensation.  Documents demonstrating the pandemic’s impact on the regulatee’s financial decline, such as banking and investment records, credit card statements, loan documents, or balances owed may also be included.  The Commission will not grant a financial hardship waiver without satisfactory resolution of all outstanding debt owed by the regulate to the Commission.
• A request to waive and/or defer payment of FY 2020 regulatory fees on grounds other than financial hardship must comply with section 1.1166 of the Commission’s rules, as modified by the electronic filing requirement to email the request and all supporting documents to [email protected] before the September, 25, 2020 payment deadline.
• The request for an installment payment may be combined in a single filing with a waiver and deferral request made on financial hardship grounds.  The supporting financial documentation submitted with an installment payment request must show that the regulatee cannot pay its FY 2020 fees in full by September 25, 2020.

For additional information please see previous blog post FCC Releases 2020 Regulatory Fees R&O and FNPRM

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