Saw these articles today on Motley Fool. Any refund is a good refund.
A Tax Credit for All of Us
http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/taxes/2007/01/16/a-tax-credit-for-all-of-us.aspx
Selena Maranjian
January 16, 2007
I've written before about the little-noticed "excise tax" that has appeared on our telephone bills for eons. It turns out that it dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the tax was levied to help pay for the Spanish-American War!
The tax has recently been decried in the media, and our government finally took action. The tax is going away and, better still, we're each due a refund for it. Here's the catch, though: we have a choice. We can opt to research and calculate what we paid over some 41 months and then calculate what we're due, according to IRS formulas; or we can just take a default credit, which is $30 if you have one exemption, $40 if you have two, $50 if you have three, or $60 if you have more. The second option requires no documentation from you, whereas the Office of Management and Budget has estimated that the first option will take you almost 14 hours, to gather the records and fill out the form.
Until recently, it looked like grabbing the standard credit would be far easier, though in most cases it would result in our receiving less money. Now, though, it seems that the first option may have gotten a little easier. Some telephone companies are helping out in the search for records of past bills. For example:
AT&T's (NYSE: T) website notes that "Online copies of AT&T bills from the (Federal Excise Tax) refund period will be made available free of charge to customers wherever available. There will be a charge associated with obtaining paper copies of your AT&T bills."
According to the Qwest (NYSE: Q) website, "Qwest will begin to make past phone bills available for the billing period between Feb. 28, 2003 and Aug. 1, 2006. At that time, Qwest will provide details on the method, format, and cost of delivering past bills."
Vonage (NYSE: VG) has announced that: "...customers can access their web accounts at no charge for a full billing history, including the amount of Federal Excise Tax (FET) paid on long distance phone service."
Bigger refunds
By opting to do the legwork, you'll likely end up with a bigger refund. Dick Hansen of refundphonetax.com notes that:
"...individuals are averaging a refund of over $120 and higher now, with interest. Companies are averaging $50 per employee, so if a company has 100 employees, it may get a $5,000 refund. Car dealerships have been averaging a $3,000 to $5,000 refund, while gas stations are submitting an average $400 to $600 claim. A bank branch location may receive a $2,000 to $3,000 refund and a small insurance agency over $1,000."
Finally, a warning: It seems that a new dastardly kind of email spam relates to this refund. If you receive an email telling you to click on a provided link in order to get your refund credited to your MasterCard (NYSE: MA) or Visa, ignore or delete it. The email is just out to grab your credit card numbers and use them for nefarious purposes.
Learn more about the refund in:
Another Line on the Tax Return
You're Due a Refund!
And learn much more about all kinds of tax issues in our Tax Center, which features gobs of money-saving strategies.
For more straight talk about money and how to keep more of it in your pocket while still making the most of life, check out our new personal finance newsletter, Motley Fool Green Light. You can try it for free for a whole month, accessing all past issues, and there's no obligation.
AT&T is a former Stock Advisor selection. Mastercard is an Inside Value recommendation.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has a full disclosure policy.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/061206/116541746002.html?.v=2
Motley Fool
You're Due a Refund!
Wednesday December 6, 11:04 am ET
By Selena Maranjian
Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article titled "You're Still Paying for the Spanish-American War," in which I noted that, bizarre though it may be, we've all been socked on each phone bill by an excise tax that went into effect long ago, to pay for the Spanish-American War. I explained:
(The USA Today article) made me dig out my last phone bill from Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News). There it was -- "Federal Excise Tax." You'll probably find it listed on your bill, too. If your monthly bill amounts to around $100, at the current 3% rate for the tax (which has been as high as 25% in past years), you'll be paying $3 per month for this tax, or $36 per year. Heavy phone users might pay $100 or more per year. And all this, to pay for the Spanish-American War?
Fortunately, once this tax started getting more press, no one could really defend it:
Even folks at AT&T (NYSE: T - News) don't like this tax. Jim Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel, has said that, "This is a 19th-century tax on a 21st-century technology. It makes no sense, and it ought to be repealed."
Well, sometimes our friends in Washington do something right. The tax has indeed finally come to an end, and we're even being offered refunds!
How to grab your money
The money is out there for you -- you just have to jump through a few hoops in order to get it. Here are a few things to know, courtesy of Dick Hansen at refundphonetax.com, and also from the IRS:
* You are to claim the refund on the 2006 tax form that you file in 2007.
* You can opt for a standard refund of $30 (if you have one exemption), $40 (if you have two), $50 (if you have three), or $60 (if you have more). This option requires no documentation from you.
* If you have (or want to go through the trouble of procuring) your telephone bill statements from March 2003 to July 2006, you can get a refund based on amounts you were actually charged. In most cases, this can amount to a lot more than the standard refund -- perhaps as much as $100 to $300 for many of us. You'll need to fill out IRS Form 8913 for this. When I looked for it at the IRS website recently, it didn't seem to be available yet. So keep checking.
* Refunds are also available for businesses.
Learn more about how to get the money due to you at the IRS's own question-and-answer page. And in the meantime, here's hoping we don't end up going to war against Spain again!
AT&T is a former Stock Advisor recommendation.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has a full disclosure policy.
A Tax Credit for All of Us
http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/taxes/2007/01/16/a-tax-credit-for-all-of-us.aspx
Selena Maranjian
January 16, 2007
I've written before about the little-noticed "excise tax" that has appeared on our telephone bills for eons. It turns out that it dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the tax was levied to help pay for the Spanish-American War!
The tax has recently been decried in the media, and our government finally took action. The tax is going away and, better still, we're each due a refund for it. Here's the catch, though: we have a choice. We can opt to research and calculate what we paid over some 41 months and then calculate what we're due, according to IRS formulas; or we can just take a default credit, which is $30 if you have one exemption, $40 if you have two, $50 if you have three, or $60 if you have more. The second option requires no documentation from you, whereas the Office of Management and Budget has estimated that the first option will take you almost 14 hours, to gather the records and fill out the form.
Until recently, it looked like grabbing the standard credit would be far easier, though in most cases it would result in our receiving less money. Now, though, it seems that the first option may have gotten a little easier. Some telephone companies are helping out in the search for records of past bills. For example:
AT&T's (NYSE: T) website notes that "Online copies of AT&T bills from the (Federal Excise Tax) refund period will be made available free of charge to customers wherever available. There will be a charge associated with obtaining paper copies of your AT&T bills."
According to the Qwest (NYSE: Q) website, "Qwest will begin to make past phone bills available for the billing period between Feb. 28, 2003 and Aug. 1, 2006. At that time, Qwest will provide details on the method, format, and cost of delivering past bills."
Vonage (NYSE: VG) has announced that: "...customers can access their web accounts at no charge for a full billing history, including the amount of Federal Excise Tax (FET) paid on long distance phone service."
Bigger refunds
By opting to do the legwork, you'll likely end up with a bigger refund. Dick Hansen of refundphonetax.com notes that:
"...individuals are averaging a refund of over $120 and higher now, with interest. Companies are averaging $50 per employee, so if a company has 100 employees, it may get a $5,000 refund. Car dealerships have been averaging a $3,000 to $5,000 refund, while gas stations are submitting an average $400 to $600 claim. A bank branch location may receive a $2,000 to $3,000 refund and a small insurance agency over $1,000."
Finally, a warning: It seems that a new dastardly kind of email spam relates to this refund. If you receive an email telling you to click on a provided link in order to get your refund credited to your MasterCard (NYSE: MA) or Visa, ignore or delete it. The email is just out to grab your credit card numbers and use them for nefarious purposes.
Learn more about the refund in:
Another Line on the Tax Return
You're Due a Refund!
And learn much more about all kinds of tax issues in our Tax Center, which features gobs of money-saving strategies.
For more straight talk about money and how to keep more of it in your pocket while still making the most of life, check out our new personal finance newsletter, Motley Fool Green Light. You can try it for free for a whole month, accessing all past issues, and there's no obligation.
AT&T is a former Stock Advisor selection. Mastercard is an Inside Value recommendation.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has a full disclosure policy.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/061206/116541746002.html?.v=2
Motley Fool
You're Due a Refund!
Wednesday December 6, 11:04 am ET
By Selena Maranjian
Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article titled "You're Still Paying for the Spanish-American War," in which I noted that, bizarre though it may be, we've all been socked on each phone bill by an excise tax that went into effect long ago, to pay for the Spanish-American War. I explained:
(The USA Today article) made me dig out my last phone bill from Verizon (NYSE: VZ - News). There it was -- "Federal Excise Tax." You'll probably find it listed on your bill, too. If your monthly bill amounts to around $100, at the current 3% rate for the tax (which has been as high as 25% in past years), you'll be paying $3 per month for this tax, or $36 per year. Heavy phone users might pay $100 or more per year. And all this, to pay for the Spanish-American War?
Fortunately, once this tax started getting more press, no one could really defend it:
Even folks at AT&T (NYSE: T - News) don't like this tax. Jim Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel, has said that, "This is a 19th-century tax on a 21st-century technology. It makes no sense, and it ought to be repealed."
Well, sometimes our friends in Washington do something right. The tax has indeed finally come to an end, and we're even being offered refunds!
How to grab your money
The money is out there for you -- you just have to jump through a few hoops in order to get it. Here are a few things to know, courtesy of Dick Hansen at refundphonetax.com, and also from the IRS:
* You are to claim the refund on the 2006 tax form that you file in 2007.
* You can opt for a standard refund of $30 (if you have one exemption), $40 (if you have two), $50 (if you have three), or $60 (if you have more). This option requires no documentation from you.
* If you have (or want to go through the trouble of procuring) your telephone bill statements from March 2003 to July 2006, you can get a refund based on amounts you were actually charged. In most cases, this can amount to a lot more than the standard refund -- perhaps as much as $100 to $300 for many of us. You'll need to fill out IRS Form 8913 for this. When I looked for it at the IRS website recently, it didn't seem to be available yet. So keep checking.
* Refunds are also available for businesses.
Learn more about how to get the money due to you at the IRS's own question-and-answer page. And in the meantime, here's hoping we don't end up going to war against Spain again!
AT&T is a former Stock Advisor recommendation.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has a full disclosure policy.