HMC-FMF-PJ
02-01-2007, 04:40
The Federal Telephone Excise Tax was enacted in 1898 as a temporary measureto fund the Spanish-American war. The US had no income tax at that time and only the wealthy had telephones, so we relied on excise taxes to fund that war.
Long story short, after years of legal battles several federal court decisions held that the Federal Telephone Excise Tax for long-distance & bundled services was improperly billed to customers for at least the past two decades. Unfortunately, US law only allows the IRS to go back a maximum of 41 months when issuing a refund.:X
The IRS Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) program will refund to you the taxes on long-distance or bundled service billed to you for the period after 28 Feb 2003 and before 01 Aug 2006. That covers virtually all OIF phone calls and most OEF calls, but is just a drop in the bucket for what is owed.
The refund is available to anyone who paid such taxes on landline, wireless (cellular), or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service BUT YOU MUST REQUEST THE REFUND when you file your 2006 tax returns.
This is a claim-it-or-lose-it deal and it is only offered this year.:shock:
Individuals choosing the standard amount can simply fill in the amount on Form 1040, 1040A, 1040NR or 1040EZ. People who don’t need to file a return can use a new, simple form (Form 1040EZ-T) to choose the standard amount.
Individual taxpayers may take a standard amount from $30 to $60 based on the number of exemptions claimed on their tax return. For those claiming:
[] one exemption, the standard refund amount is $30
[] two exemptions, the standard refund amount is $40
[] three exemptions, the standard refund amount is $50
[] four exemptions or more, the standard refund amount is $60
Using the standard amount may be the easiest way for taxpayers to get their refund and avoid gathering 41 months of old phone records. See IRS instructions for claiming a refund for the actual amount. If you tend to have a big long distance bill then you would likely do better to calculate the actual amount.
Individuals who decide not to use the standard amount must figure their refund using the actual amount of tax they paid on intrastate, interstate, and international voice minutes. The telephone tax paid on the local portion of their service is not eligible for the refund. To choose this option, taxpayers can fill out Form 8913 and attach it to their regular income-tax returns. The taxpayer must maintain supporting documentation (ie. phone bills & proof of payment) with their tax records for at least three years.
Basic formula:
(Monthly Long Distance Bill) x (0.03 tax rate) x (41 months) = Actual Refund
The standard amount is not available to businesses and nonprofits. Accordingly, businesses and nonprofits must fill out Form 8913 and base their refund requests on the actual amount of tax they paid.
IRS Telephone Excise Tax Refund
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=164032,00.html
IRS Form 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ezt.pdf
IRS Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8913.pdf
Long story short, after years of legal battles several federal court decisions held that the Federal Telephone Excise Tax for long-distance & bundled services was improperly billed to customers for at least the past two decades. Unfortunately, US law only allows the IRS to go back a maximum of 41 months when issuing a refund.:X
The IRS Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) program will refund to you the taxes on long-distance or bundled service billed to you for the period after 28 Feb 2003 and before 01 Aug 2006. That covers virtually all OIF phone calls and most OEF calls, but is just a drop in the bucket for what is owed.
The refund is available to anyone who paid such taxes on landline, wireless (cellular), or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service BUT YOU MUST REQUEST THE REFUND when you file your 2006 tax returns.
This is a claim-it-or-lose-it deal and it is only offered this year.:shock:
Individuals choosing the standard amount can simply fill in the amount on Form 1040, 1040A, 1040NR or 1040EZ. People who don’t need to file a return can use a new, simple form (Form 1040EZ-T) to choose the standard amount.
Individual taxpayers may take a standard amount from $30 to $60 based on the number of exemptions claimed on their tax return. For those claiming:
[] one exemption, the standard refund amount is $30
[] two exemptions, the standard refund amount is $40
[] three exemptions, the standard refund amount is $50
[] four exemptions or more, the standard refund amount is $60
Using the standard amount may be the easiest way for taxpayers to get their refund and avoid gathering 41 months of old phone records. See IRS instructions for claiming a refund for the actual amount. If you tend to have a big long distance bill then you would likely do better to calculate the actual amount.
Individuals who decide not to use the standard amount must figure their refund using the actual amount of tax they paid on intrastate, interstate, and international voice minutes. The telephone tax paid on the local portion of their service is not eligible for the refund. To choose this option, taxpayers can fill out Form 8913 and attach it to their regular income-tax returns. The taxpayer must maintain supporting documentation (ie. phone bills & proof of payment) with their tax records for at least three years.
Basic formula:
(Monthly Long Distance Bill) x (0.03 tax rate) x (41 months) = Actual Refund
The standard amount is not available to businesses and nonprofits. Accordingly, businesses and nonprofits must fill out Form 8913 and base their refund requests on the actual amount of tax they paid.
IRS Telephone Excise Tax Refund
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=164032,00.html
IRS Form 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ezt.pdf
IRS Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8913.pdf