« $50 for the Chase Flexible Rewards Card | Main | Get your Goldschlagger cheaper »
June 05, 2006
Your phone bill is going down
Last month, the U.S. Treasury agreed to stop collecting a 3% tax paid on long-distance calls. The fee has been around for the last 108 years (I didn't even know phones were invented then), in part to help pay for the Spanish-American War (you remember that one, right?).
The fee has gone up and down over the years, hitting 25% during WWII and the Korean War, dropping to 10% during the Vietnam War, and bottoming out at 1% when Ronald Reagan was in office. The fee has been at 3% since 1990.
After the IRS lost case after case as corporations started suing to stop paying the tax, the Treasury finally had enough and said it would stop requiring long-distance companies to collect the fee. Treasury Secretary Snow also asked Congress to get rid of the 3% fee on local phone calls, but it is not clear if they will. Plus, Snow just resigned.
Details are still sketchy, but the Treasury said refunds will be issued for the last three years of taxes if requested by businesses and consumers and taxpayers should be able to request refunds on their 2006 tax returns.
Posted by brian at June 5, 2006 11:25 AM