'Spanish American War' Tax Ends
but only for long distance - not local - service

As predicted, after losing a number of court battles, the IRS has decided to give up and stop charging long-distance customers a tax that stems back to the Spanish American war. Some in congress had considered at one point expanding the tax to cover broadband connections. Note that the repeal is only for long-distance service, this now named "excise tax" still exists for local phone service.

According to this release by the IRS, taxpayers can file for refunds for any tax paid after Feb. 28, 2003 on their 2006 returns. "So taxpayers won’t have to spend time digging through old telephone bills, we’re designing a straightforward process that taxpayers may use when they file their tax returns next year," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Claiming a refund will be simple and fair." (I wonder how much of a refund this will turn out to be. Enough to buy a couple or three books?)

*Thanks to the folks at dslreports.com for this article*