Free money from your government
I spent the weekend preparing tax forms — an annual exercise in frustration. But, buried in this year’s tax forms is a credit called the Telephone Tax Refund in which taxpayers receive a credit on their federal excise tax on long-distance phone services billed between March 1, 2003 and July 31, 2006. This is the only year in which taxpayers can apply for this refund.
Taxpayers can either add up every line of excise tax from their phone bills or take a standard deduction. The standard deduction varies from $30 for a taxpayer with one exemption, $40 if you claim two exemptions, $50 for three and $60 for four or more.
Or you can gather up all your old phone bills and add up the amount of excise tax you were billed for long-distance services and deduct the full amount.
The refund appears on line 71 on form 1040 and works like a tax credit reducing the amount of tax due.
By the way, did you see Congress is proposing a plan to “simplify” the tax forms once again. How’s this for a tax form?
Line 1 — Enter your gross income
Line 2 — Subtract $30,000
Line 3 — Multiply the balance by 15 percent
Line 4 — Write a check and mail it in
Anyone think this would work to simplify our tax structure and put government on a budget?
January 29th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Wow, it must have been a slow news day in Wisconsin
I’d vote for this plan … you might as well throw your hat into the presidential sweepstakes along with the 16 or so people who are already running. Just what we need, a two year campaign!
Where’s Steve Forbes when you need him?