US to repeal phone tax, refund billions

US TO REPEAL PHONE TAX, REFUND BILLIONS
[SOURCE: Reuters]
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday conceded a legal dispute over the 3 percent federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service and said $13 billion would be refunded to taxpayers. The telecommunications industry hailed the decision in the long-fought battle to kill a 1898 law, established as a luxury tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones and to help finance costs of waging the Spanish-American war. The U.S. Treasury Department said it would end its litigation to defend the tax and taxpayers will be able to reclaim the money on their 2006 tax returns filed next year.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-05-25T174140Z_01_WAT005650_RTRUKOC_0_US-ECONOMY-TELECOMS-TAX.xml&a...

* Wireless Industry Comments
http://www.ctia.org/news_media/press/body.cfm?record_id=1613

* Comment from USTelecom
http://www.ustelecom.org/news_releases.php?urh=home.news.nr2006_0525

* U.S. to End Contentious Phone Tax
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114860210611563715.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

* 'Antique' Phone Tax Dropped
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052500720.html

* Phone Tax Laid to Rest at Age 108
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/business/26excise.html