Posted on 05/30/2006 1:16:34 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
ADIOS TO A PHONE TAX
The Spanish-American War was fought in 1898 and lasted less than eight months, but Americans still pay an excise tax on phone service that was imposed to finance it. Last week, a mere 108 years after the end of that conflict, the Bush Administration moved to terminate the levy, says the Wall Street Journal.
Treasury Secretary John Snow said the Internal Revenue Service will no longer collect the 3 percent federal excise tax on long-distance phone calls and will offer refunds for the past three years. The courts have forced its hand with repeated rulings that the tax on long-distance is illegal in a telecom world in which calls are no longer priced based on distance. The IRS will continue to collect the tax on local calls, but Snow did express support for the idea of Congress passing legislation to repeal the tax entirely.
According to the Journal:
* That would be the best outcome, and not just because a future administration might opt to begin collecting the tax again and restart the court battles. So long as the tax exists, so will the political temptation to expand its scope and turn it into yet another revenue stream for the federal till. A Joint Tax Committee report issued last year suggested extending the excise tax to "all data communication services," including cable modems, cellular and DSL Internet connections.
* The federal excise tax was intended to target "the rich," who at the time were the only ones who could afford a telephone. Yet our tax code still considers phones "luxury" items. The last time Congress came close to ending this charade was 2000, when majorities in both the House and the Senate voted for repeal, which President Clinton vetoed, says the Journal.
Source: Editorial, "Adios to a Phone Tax," Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2006.
For text (subscription required):
".....when majorities in both the House and the Senate voted for repeal, which President Clinton vetoed, says the Journal...."
Headline: Bush refuses to fund war!
Spanish-American War Tax To End
and
The IRS will continue to collect the tax on local calls,
It's getting smaller - not ending. And we still have the Gore Tax on the bills.
The income tax has been around, in one form or another, since 1862 - when it was created to aid the Civil War effort. In that sense, maybe we could call it the Civil War tax. Certainly it predates the Spanish American War tax; perhaps we might therefore repeal that, too. It's become a monster which gobbles up the substance of American citizens and thrives on sucking the life blood from the population, all the while promoting corruption in a bloated Washington. Someone (I think it was Thomas Jefferson, but don't rely on an Old Man's memory) once said "The power to tax is the power to destroy," and that's undoubtedly true. It's long past time for government to figure out a more honest manner in which to sustain itself.
It's a quagmire, I tell you!
It is only a matter of time before one's DSL/Cable Internet service is subject to similar taxation. Already there are proposals in Congress to provide broadband Internet access to "underserved" areas and guess who will foot the bill so that the 16 people with 2 computers in West Waterpump, SD have broadband access...the rest of us "rich" folks who have the "luxury" of broadband access.
I switched my long distance, 2 years ago,to an international company. I prepay on line as I go - I get no bill - there are no taxes,no fees, no 'program' charges, no time restrictions, nada.
Just call anytime, 24/7 and it's 4 1/2 cents a minute, period, even to call my daughter in Canada. It has saved me hundreds
I predict we will get some meaningful tax reforms in a couple more centuries.
If it's okay with Mexico, that is. (sigh)
And the name of the comapny is?
Did they even have phones in 1898?
Goldline ;o)
By 1881, there were 132,700 Bell telephones - so, 17 years later - lots more. (over 15 million by 1930 - Google knows everything...:O)
Remember the Maine!
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