You asked how the sales and gross earnings tax on cable TV services relate.

By law, cable TV services, as well as the video services provided by satellite TV companies, are subject to both the 6% sales tax and the 5% gross earnings tax. Since the latter, as its name implies, applies to the gross earnings of these companies, it applies to the revenue collected for the sales tax. Typically, cable TV companies itemize the two taxes on their bills, according to New England Cable and Telecommunications Associations staff, but do not describe the relationship between the taxes. There have been several bills to eliminate the resulting double taxation, most recently in 2004.

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