The Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge, the Federal Universal Service Charge, and the Municipal Gross Receipts Surcharge collected by a telephone company are mandatory charges subject to state and local sales tax. These charges and the tax are included on the billing statement so the telephone company can recover its cost for providing telecommunication services. Since the charges and tax are direct costs of the telephone company and not the customer, they are also included in the basic rate subject to tax. (Letter Ruling No. LR5980, Missouri Department of Revenue, October 30, 2009)