Senator Schumer Proposes Call Center TaxSenator Schumer Proposes Call Center Tax

The proposed legislation would tax U.S. companies that transfer domestic calls to foreign call centers and that require consumers be informed when their call is transferred outside the U.S.

W. David Gardner, Contributor

June 1, 2010

2 Min Read
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Continuing a campaign to keep call center jobs from leaving the U.S. for foreign lands, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he is introducing legislation calling for the imposition of an excise tax on companies that transfer U.S.-originated calls to foreign call centers.

In addition, the legislation would require that U.S. callers be informed that their calls are being transferred to a foreign country and to which foreign country in particular.

“If we want to put a stop to the outsourcing of American jobs, then we need to provide incentives for American companies to keep American jobs here,” the Democratic senator said, according to news reports. He also noted that an excise tax of 25 cents a call would “also provide a reason for companies that have already outsourced jobs to bring them back.”

Earlier Schumer pressured electricity supplier National Grid to drop its plans to outsource some 200 IT jobs from its Syracuse facilities. Schumer noted he had a phone call with National Grid CEO Tom King in which he urged King to keep the jobs in the Upstate New York city. “I believe we swayed them,” Schumer said after he noted that National Grid -- owned by a UK firm -- received government approval to acquire KeySpan on the condition its U.S. job base would be retained.

As for the proposed tariff on call center calls, Schumer has proposed that no fee be imposed on domestic call center calls. The proposed legislation would require companies receiving overseas call center calls to report their total service calls and the number relayed out of the U.S.

Another advantage of the legislation, according to Schumer, would be that U.S. consumers would know that their personal information is being kept in the U.S. He noted that many foreign countries have lax requirements on retaining consumer information.

According to the Technology Marketing Corp. of Norwalk, Conn., some 250,000 call center jobs were lost to overseas lands early in the decade.

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