2018 FCC Regulatory Fees Payment Deadline September 25th

The FCC has announced a deadline of September 25th for receipt of its Fiscal Year 2018 annual regulatory fees. Fees are owed on all authorizations held as of October 1st, 2017 or held on the fee due date. Licensees who relinquished licenses by September 30th, 2017 are not responsible for FY 2018 regulatory fees for the cancelled license.

Payment may be made by credit card, debit card, Automated Clearing House (ACH) debits from a bank account or wire transfers. The maximum acceptable daily credit card payment is $24,999.99. Alternative means must be used for larger single payments. Regardless of the method, the payment process must be initiated through the FCC's on-line Fee Filer system.

Full payment must be received by the September 25th deadline in order to avoid the 25% late payment penalty, plus interest and processing fees. This year, in lieu of the prior 180-day trigger, debts older than 120 days will be referred for collection to the Treasury Department, which can be more complex to deal with than the FCC.

Again this year, the FCC will not send bills. Instead, it requires that licensees determine the extent of their obligation and obtain information on-line through its Fee Filer system. Below, for your reference is a final list of the 2018 regulatory fees by broadcast category. Licensees are exempt from regulatory fee payments if their total liability for the fiscal year is below $1,000.

Further information on the Commission's Fee Filer payment system can be found here Filer Information Page. Fee information for any specific broadcast station, including exempt status, may be found at: http://www.fccfees.com/ where you can also look up fees by station call sign or facility ID.

Note that the fee for auxiliaries has been eliminated. Note also that the FCC list in Fee Filer is not always up to date. You can check for all licenses by Licensee name or FRN at General Menu License Query .

Regulatory Fees
FY 2018

This column is provided for general information purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice pertaining to any specific factual situation. Legal decisions should be made only after proper consultation with a legal professional of your choosing.