The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is reminding the public that beginning Jan. 1, consumers purchasing prepaid wireless services will pay a new surcharge similar to the taxes and fees paid by consumers of contract wireless services.

Assembly Bill 1717, known as the Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Surcharge Collection Act, was signed into law in 2014 and requires sellers of prepaid wireless services to collect the new surcharge from customers beginning Jan. 1. All consumers of prepaid wireless services will pay a percent of the sales price at the point of sale. The rate will be higher in areas where cities and counties have imposed taxes or charges. The rate in Los Angeles is 18.2 percent.

Most retailers will remit the full amount of the surcharge to the BOE. The BOE will allocate the funds to programs such as 911 and emergency services, the California LifeLine Program and other local government programs.

For information, visit www.boe.ca.gov and www.cpuc.ca.gov.