I heard on the news today that the US Government may owe YOU money for a Telephone tax that they have been collecting for the last hundred years. Here is a little brief tidbit that was found on the IRS website. How do I get the telephone tax refund? In general, anyone who paid the telephone tax on their long-distance or bundled service during the refund period (after Feb. 28, 2003, and before Aug. 1, 2006) is eligible to request the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and nonprofit or tax exempt organizations. The 2006 return is usually filed during 2007. Taxpayers can base their refund requests on the actual amount of tax paid. To do this, they must fill out Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid. This form is then attached to their regular 2006 income-tax returns. But many people don’t want to dig through up to 41 months of old phone bills or lack the records they need to figure the actual amount of tax paid. For that reason, the government created a standard amount, ranging from $30 to $60 that individuals can use to request their refund. Taxpayers who request the standard amount will only need to fill out one additional line on their tax returns. The standard amount is based on actual telephone usage data and the amount applicable to a family or other household reflects the taxes paid on long-distance or bundled phone service by similarly sized families or households. The Feds get all vulture-like when we owe them money. Now that the tables have turned, let's try and get our money back from the Feds. It could happen. Let me know if you have had success with this. Calif.Bob
That's a good post. I already knew about such things but perhaps others here didn't. I have an accountant that does all of my taxes now though so I don't worry about it anymore.
Yes, you were able to do that on you 2006 taxes. I took the $30. It wasn't much but it did put a little more money in my pocket.
I actually got the $60 because of a cell phone I had for two years that was being taxed, was used heavily, and I'm poor. Go me!
I reviewed my records as well and found that we had already been paid out for the phone lines that we have maintained over the last two decades. It's funny, but I never saw the refund... perhaps my wife did???
It has something to do that the Excise tax was for a purpose that has long since passed and everyone just forgot about removing it from the system until now.
