The IRS is set to return money collected via Americans' phone bills to pay for the Spanish-American War

[Nikita2Charles 32]

Nearly a year ago, The Motley Fool published an article titled "You're still paying for the Spanish-American War," which noted that, bizarre though it may be, we've all been socked on each phone bill with an excise tax that went into effect long ago to pay for the Spanish-American War.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=161504,00.html

A recent glance at a reporter's phone bill from Verizon Communications (VZ, news, msgs) confirms that the Federal Excise Tax is still there. You'll probably find it listed on your bill, too.

If your monthly bill amounts to around $100, at the current 3% rate for the tax (which has been as high as 25% in past years), you'll be paying $3 per month for this tax, or $36 per year. Heavy phone users might pay $100 or more per year. All to pay for the Spanish-American War?

Fortunately, once this tax started getting some press, no one could really defend it.

Even folks at AT&T (T, news, msgs), the nation's biggest telecom company, don't like this tax. Jim Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel, has said, "This is a 19th-century tax on a 21st-century technology. It makes no sense, and it ought to be repealed."

Well, sometimes our friends in Washington do something right. The tax has indeed finally come to an end, and we're even being offered refunds.

How to grab the money

The money is out there for you -- you just have to jump through a few hoops in order to get it.

Here are a few things to know, courtesy of ####### Hansen at refundphonetax.com and also from the Internal Revenue Service:

You are to claim the refund on the 2006 tax form that you file in 2007.

You can opt for a standard refund of $30 (if you have one exemption), $40 (if you have two), $50 (if you have three) or $60 (if you have more). This option requires no documentation from you.

If you have (or want to go through the trouble of procuring) your telephone bill statements from March 2003 to July 2006, you can get a refund based on amounts you were actually charged. In most cases, this can amount to a lot more than the standard refund -- perhaps as much as $100 to $300 for many of us. You'll need to fill out IRS Form 8913 for this.

Edited December 9, 2006 by Nikita2Charles

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Better late than never

[peejay 327]

Do you have to itemize this deduction or is it included as one of the steps on the Form 1040? I never have enough deductions to go the long form and always just take the standard deduction.

It would be nice to get a little extra back if the hoops aren't aflame, but they have been f*cking me for years...so what if they screw me on another bullsh*t tax. I don't know if I'll cry about it if I have to crawl through broken glass or jump through flaming hoops to get it.

My old hardwire phone costs $21/month, so I doubt if I'm looking at missing out on a fortune.

[Artegal 1]

If you have (or want to go through the trouble of procuring) your telephone bill statements from March 2003 to July 2006, you can get a refund based on amounts you were actually charged. In most cases, this can amount to a lot more than the standard refund -- perhaps as much as $100 to $300 for many of us. You'll need to fill out IRS Form 8913 for this.

Funny Form 8913 does not exist or is not present on the IRS Form library--I guess they want to make it really hard for us to get our money back.

Ah ha! But you can order for delivery by US Mail to your address:

Thank You for Ordering from the IRS!

Typically orders take 7 to 15 days for delivery.

The following order has been received:

Items Ordered:

Item Description Revision Quantity

Form 8913 - Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid Current 2

Edited December 10, 2006 by Artegal

[clloyd 0]

It is not a deduction. It is a credit. A refundable one at that.

[clloyd 0]

Funny Form 8913 does not exist or is not present on the IRS Form library--I guess they want to make it really hard for us to get our money back.

Not really. Not all IRS forms are ready at the same time. In fact, I think they need to redesign the 1040 and Schedule A they currently have posted.

[Artegal 1]

Looking back at a few of my past Long Distance bills I see where I have paid about $1.35 on average for this tax. So the refund counts from March of 2003 to July of 2006--40 months--which is 54 dollars for me if the average for the past few months is indicative of the whole 40 month term--they should have taken the refund back even further, but oh well. 50 Dollars would be my standard deduction on this refund--not sure if requesting copies of all of my previous long distance bills would be worth it.