Frequently Asked Questions

What is the telephone excise tax refund?
The telephone excise tax refund is a one-time payment available on your 2006 federal income tax return, designed to refund previously collected long-distance federal excise taxes. It is available to anyone who paid long-distance taxes on landline, cell phone or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. 

Why is the government refunding these taxes?
Several recent federal court decisions have held that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today. The IRS is following these decisions and refunding the portion of the tax charged on long-distance calls. The IRS is also refunding taxes collected on telephone service under plans that do not differentiate between long distance and local calls.

The telephone tax continues to apply to local-only service, and the IRS is not refunding taxes charged on local-only service.

The IRS will refund the taxes on long-distance service billed to you for the period after Feb. 28, 2003, and before Aug. 1, 2006.  Taxpayers should request this refund when they file their 2006 tax returns.

How do I get the telephone excise tax refund?
In general, anyone who paid the long-distance telephone tax will get the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations. The 2006 return is usually filed during 2007.

The IRS is making it easier for taxpayers by offering a standard refund amount between $30 to $60, so they don’t need to gather old phone bills. Taxpayers who choose the standard amount will only need to fill out one line on their tax returns. The standard amount is based on actual telephone usage data and the amount applicable to a family or other household reflects the long-distance phone tax paid by similarly sized families or households. Using this amount is the easiest way for taxpayers to get their refunds and avoid gathering 41 months of old phone records.

Businesses and nonprofit organizations must fill out the new Form 8913 and base their refund requests on the actual amount of tax they paid or use the formula provided on Form 8913 to estimate their federal telephone excise tax refunds. You may also obtain these forms by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.

Who is eligible to request the telephone excise tax refund?
In general, any individual, business or nonprofit organization that paid long-distance tax for service billed after Feb. 28, 2003, and before Aug. 1, 2006, is eligible to request the refund.

I don’t have to file an income-tax return. How do I get the telephone excise tax refund?
For those people who do not otherwise have to file a tax return, there is a new simple Form 1040EZ-T that can be used to get this refund. If you choose the standard amount, all you need to do is fill out this simple form using the number of exemptions you are eligible to claim. For example, a married couple with two dependent children (for a total of four exemptions) will be eligible for the maximum standard amount of $60.

If you decide not to use the standard amount, you must figure your refund using the actual amount of tax paid. To choose this option, you must fill out additional Form 8913 and attach it to Form 1040EZ-T.

For more Frequently Asked Question on the Telephone Excise Tax Refund, visit 
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=161506,00.html.