Tax Relief too

More money for taxpayers, Florida or otherwise.

WASHINGTON · 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.

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The IRS said it based the refund amounts on telephone usage data, and that the standard amounts reflect averages for households of different sizes.

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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.

This tax earned the IRS a knucklehead award a few months ago. Why can't taxpayers collect interest too just the government does when somebody doesn't pay their taxes?

Who said life or the tax collector was fair?

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