U.S. wireless customers pay an average of more...

U.S. wireless customers pay an average of more than 17 percent in combined federal, state and local taxes and fees on their cellphone bills, the Tax Foundation said Wednesday in a report. The federal tax rate is 5.82 percent, while the state tax rate averages about 11.23 percent, the Tax Foundation said. Washington state has the highest state tax rate on cellphone bills at 18.6 percent, while Oregon has the lowest at 1.76 percent. Baltimore, Chicago, New York and Omaha, Nebraska, all have effective tax rates of more than 25 percent on cellphone bills, the Tax Foundation said (http://bit.ly/1sckeFC).