Annual Regulatory Fees Due Sept. 19th
As the summer hurtles to a close, the FCC has adopted its FY2007 Annual Regulatory Fees, and appears to have set September 19th as the deadline for submitting the annual fees. (I say “appears to have set” because as of this writing, the FCC has yet to formally announce the deadline for the regulatory fees, but a banner at the top of www.fcc.gov announces that fees are due by September 19, 2007.) Payment may be made by check or credit card, and can be submitted either in paper or electronically. Payments not made by 11:59 PM on September 19th will face the addition of a 25% late fee.
The Commission has a helpful web page, which includes instructions for submitting the regulatory fees and a “look-up” database to allow stations to confirm the amount owed for their stations. The site also contains a Frequently Asked Questions section, and links to the database where you can submit the fees electronically. In addition, for those needing more detail, the Commission’s full Order detailing the fees for all types of licensees is available here. In addition, the FCC will also release shortly a guide specifically for radio and television broadcast stations with codes, fee amounts, and instructions. Once that is available from the FCC, we’ll add a link here.
Licensees are encouraged to submit their fees on time and make sure the payments are accurate. And be sure to keep a copy of all correspondence or electronic confirmations. Historically, the FCC’s recordkeeping on regulatory fees has not been the best, and the process seems to be conducted by a third-party contractor, further complicating issues. In addition, failure to timely submit the proper regulatory fee can block the processing of future applications. Accordingly, it is better in the long-run to take some extra time to make sure these fees are paid properly, then to try and deal with the headache later.