Thursday, May 25, 2006

Telephone tax refund ...

The IRS is going to pay back some taxes collected. A long time ago, like about 1898, the government imposed a 3% tax on long distance telephone calls. This was a temporary tax, of course. And it was okay because only rich people had telephones, and taxing the rich and not the poor is thought to be a virtue. Of course with the passage of time, we see the error of imposing a temporary tax, or permitting a tax because it is only imposed on those who can afford it. You and I have been paying the 3% tax on our long distance phone calls.

Anyway, since the government has lost lawsuits about collecting this tax, and lost more than once, it has decided it won't collect the tax anymore. And it is going to give some money back. There will be an opportunity on the 2006 tax forms to claim 3 years worth of federal taxes on your long distance calls. Oh, the other 105 years of taxes? Gone.

Boy, we sure showed IRS they can't mess around with the American public.

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