Treasury will quit collecting 3% long-distance phone tax, promises refunds

[CountAllVotes]

Posted 5/25/2006 11:07 AM ET

By Mary Dalrymble, Associated Press

The Treasury Department said Thursday that it will stop collecting the 3% federal excise tax on long-distance calls and refund about $13 billion to consumers.

"It's not often you get to kill a tax," said Treasury Secretary John Snow.

Companies have been fighting the tax in court and winning, arguing that the 3% excise tax should not apply to some long-distance calls. Snow said the government would stop fighting the taxpayers challenging the tax.

The tax will officially end July 31. Individuals will be allowed to claim three years' worth of refunds on their 2006 tax returns, filed in 2007. They would be given the option of calculating actual taxes paid or claiming a standard amount set by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.

more ...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2006-05-25-phone-tax_x.htm?csp=24

[RebelDawg]

1. Great news n/m

[fshrink]

2. Thanks to my daughter I will get 5,000 back.

[denverbill]

3. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but...

How in the hell can the Treasury Department make that decision? Isn't there a law on the books that created this tax, and shouldn't Congress have to pass a law to remove this law? Oh, I know, I know, this is the Republicans. Laws don't apply to them. If there's a law they don't like, they just stop enforcing it (border security, clean air, tax audits on wealthy people, bribery, corruption, etc).

[rodeodance]

6. more. The law goes back to the Spanish-American WAR!!

The federal excise taxes on telephone service date to 1898, when telephones were a luxury and lawmakers needed money to fight the Spanish-American War.

It imposes a tax on calls billed according to distance and duration. Businesses fighting the tax in court had argued that many modern billing plans ignore the distance of telephone calls, and the tax should be declared invalid.

Snow said the government can handle the reduction in tax revenue, despite persistent federal budget deficits. "Federal revenues are surging," he said.

[GregW]

4. Ahhh ... so THIS is why they needed all those phone records

Need to CHECK THE TAX REFUND right?

[CountAllVotes]

5. I find it mighty suspicious myself

...

:kick:

[Occulus]

19. Heh. Uh-huh. Sure they did.

How far back, exactly, does this refund go?

/snark

Bet I don't get a dime in cash. Bet you all an instance of my paycheck.

Money order. Post your addy, I'll mail ya the difference.

:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

7. Snow: "Federal revenues are surging,"

Snow said the government can handle the reduction in tax revenue, despite persistent federal budget deficits. "Federal revenues are surging," he said.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. You can't make shit like that up.

:wow:

[alarimer]

20. What planet is he on?

How can the federal revenue be surging when they keep cutting taxes? What an idiot.

[rodeodance]

8. the law goes back to 1898.

The federal excise tax on local telephone service remains in effect, but Snow says the administration would support an effort to end that tax as well.

The federal excise taxes on telephone service date to 1898, when telephones were a luxury and lawmakers needed money to fight the Spanish-American War.

It imposes a tax on calls billed according to distance and duration. Businesses fighting the tax in court had argued that many modern billing plans ignore the distance of telephone calls, and the tax should be declared invalid.

Snow said the government can handle the reduction in tax revenue, despite persistent federal budget deficits. "Federal revenues are surging," he said.

[Benhurst]

9. A few billion here. A few trillion there. It begins to add up.

Just another tax break for the corporations. I doubt if many middle-class or poor citizens will benefit from this. Guess who will get the bulk of the refunds?

More bullshit from the Crime Family running BushAmerica.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Man, they must realize time is running out...seeing how fast they can

truly bankrupt the country. $70 billion last week to the richest 10%, refund $13 billion on excise tax, and bringing up the 'death tax' vote that will cost over $1 trillion next week.

[jmowreader]

11. Where are they going to get the $13 billion?

For most people, this isn't an onerous burden. In my case, it comes out to less than a dollar a month.

When my wife and I first got married, she was running up around $150 in long-distance charges per month calling her family in Illinois (we lived in Lowville, NY, at the time). We're still talking less than two Big Macs a month. Once again, not an onerous burden.

It's not an onerous burden for big business, either. We all have satellite telephony--and we're not paying taxes at all on the calls that route through that system.

It is an onerous burden for small business, who is represented by perhaps the most vicious lobby in America, the National Federation of Independent Business. They've been pushing for this repeal ever since they opened the doors.

Be that as it may, I recall that right now we're in the middle of two wars. Where in FUCK are we coming up with this extra $13 billion?

[Roland99]

14. Silly you. From the rapidly increasing tax revenue from all the new jobs!!

Sheesh.


Where else?













:sarcasm:

[lindisfarne]

12. This is mainly going to benefit business - and take money out of the

tax coffers of the federal gov't.

"Snow said the government does not know how much money individual taxpayers can expect to receive, but the tax amounts to little on the average telephone bill."

$13 billion is a lot of grants for higher education, or money to K-12 schools.

I second the question as to how the Treasury Dept. has the authority to rescind a tax??

========
"It's not an onerous burden for big business, either. We all have satellite telephony--and we're not paying taxes at all on the calls that route through that system. "

The biggest business pays little to no taxes on anything. (Perhaps it's time to tax satellite telephony?)

[Orsino]

15. "Consumers" = corporations.

No, the * Administration hasn't suddenly developed concern for the Average American.

[MGKrebs]

16. The debt is increasing by what, about $100,000 per second?

This is one of those things that seems to me that as long as everybody is paying the same rate, it's not that bad of a way to generate revenue. If we were in a surplus type environment and were looking for ways to cut revenue, sure, but we got bills to pay!

It's a small amount of money for consumers, and eliminating this tax won't make any business more competitive because all other businesses get the same break.

[Robbien]

17. The GOP is running out of Federal taxes to cut

Many businesses get a net profit from the Feds when combining all the earned credits with the few remaining tax charges.

[sandnsea]

18. Message to Bushits "we care about you"

Tax rebate due just in time for the Nov vote. Just like they always do. Protect the 2nd amendment while they trash the rest, protect the unborn while the rest of us die. Do nothing policies to convince the idjits that Republicans 'care, they really really care'.

[reprobate]

21. Wonder if VOIP had anything to do with the change?

[sarcasmo]

22. These kind of Taxes are why my wife and I eliminated the land line.

Two years ago, Cell phones and a cable modem, stop paying that insane fee for a landline.