WOO HOO!
Posted on 08/31/2006 10:18:10 PM PDT by freepatriot32
WASHINGTON (Aug. 31) - Consumers can claim a standard $30 to $60 refund next year for a tax on long-distance telephone calls that the government declared invalid, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.
Telephone customers had been paying the 3 percent federal excise tax on local and long-distance service. The government this month stopped collecting the tax on long-distance calls after businesses repeatedly fought the tax in court and won.
Next year, consumers can use their 2006 tax returns to claim a refund on long-distance telephone taxes paid since March 2003.
The standard refund starts at $30 and increases by $10 for each additional exemption claimed on a tax return, up to $60. A married couple with two dependent children, for example, could claim a $60 refund.
The IRS will add a line to the 2006 tax returns mailed next spring, enabling individuals to claim the refund. The tax agency will also create a special form for people not otherwise required to file tax returns, so they can request their money back.
"These amounts save taxpayers from locating 41 months of old phone bills and analyzing these bills to determine the taxes paid," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. "We believe the standard amounts are both reasonable and fair."
The IRS said it based the refund amounts on telephone usage data, and that the standard amounts reflect averages for households of different sizes.
Individuals do not have to use the standard amount. Consumers who have their old phone bills can instead add up the taxes they paid between March 2003 and July 2006 and apply for a refund.
The tax dates back to the late 19th century and the Spanish-American War, when telephones were a luxury and the government needed revenue.
In recent years, multiple businesses successfully challenged the tax because it applied to long-distance calls billed according to time and distance, a billing formula mostly replaced by flat-rate calling plans.
The Treasury Department has said it expects to return $13 billion to consumers, including businesses and other organizations.
Businesses and nonprofit organizations will have to compute their taxes paid before applying for a refund. The IRS said it's looking to make that calculation easier through methods that might allow them to estimate the taxes paid. The IRS will take comments on that topic through Sept. 15 through a special e-mail, Telephone.Tax(at)irs.gov.
WOO HOO!
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
?????
Good.
Wasn't income tax introduced to fund US involvement in WW1 ? WW1 ended in 1918 ...
Well that touches about 0.01% of the taxes, surcharges and involuntary gifts stripped from my wealth each month as a routine by the local, state and federal government on my telephone and cable bills.
It was introduced in 1862 to fund the civil war.
does this mean the spanish-american war is finally over ?
( or is that another tax ?)
Why would you get more back if you have more dependents? Don't get the connection. With some of the phone bills I have had, 3% since 2003 is a lot more than $60. Why are we not rebated what we paid?
I just read I can apply for all the charges if I have the bills. I keep all records for at least seven years! Now I feel better.
The present income tax started in 1913, the same year we received the non audited, non "Federal" Reserve.
Ninety three years later, it's time for both to pass away.
*Sigh*
The telephone tax has been funding the Spanish-American War all this time.
Amazingly, the telephone had been invented 22 years before the Spanish American War.
Guess the government was slow even then.
Anyway, good to see you, Howlin
"Well that touches about 0.01% of the taxes, surcharges and involuntary gifts stripped from my wealth each month as a routine by the local, state and federal government on my telephone and cable bills."
So, are you saying you don't care whether you get it back or not? Take your victories when they happen.
That would make it 1899. Not 1918. Right?
Once tax on something is instituted it never goes away.
Right. But I was just figuring it took 'em about a year to get the tax they wanted in place.
Just "guessing" on my part.
Yep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.