Federal Telephone Excise Rebate

The Federal Telephone Excise Tax Rebate is he most forgotten and misused tax credit for 2007. Find out how to get your rebate, even if you don't have to file a tax return. Make sure you know how to claim your rebate and not abuse it.

(PRWEB) March 28, 2007 -- In February of 2003 the federal government started charging a 3% excise tax on all Long distance phone services. This tax included land lines, cell phones and internet long distance service. It covered regular long distance service and bundled service. You may or may not have known about this tax, but it was one of the long list of charges on your bill.

In August 2006, the federal courts determined that the excise tax was illegal and ordered the government to refund the money. The first problem was to figure out the best way to refund a tax that affects millions of people. Since most Americans file a tax return, the government decided that the best way to return the tax is in the form of a tax credit on tax returns. But what if you are not required to file a tax return? Don't worry, you can just file an IRS form and still get the credit.

The next problem was how to determine how much each individual should receive. Since most people do no keep their phone bills for four years, the government had to come up with a simple way to return the money. There are two ways a person can determine how much of a credit one can receive. The first option is to dig out all of your phone bills from February 2003 through August 2006 and add up the tax you were charged. This charge for most people ranges between $30.00 and $150.00. If you don't have or don't want to add up your bills, there is a refund of between $30.00 and $60.00 you can claim depending on your household size.

The IRS is reporting that many tax filers do not know about the tax and many tax preparers are not informing their clients about the tax. If you have filed your tax return already and did not claim the telephone excise tax credit, contact your tax preparer. You can still receive the credit.

The IRS is also reporting a lot of fraud surrounding this tax credit. There are tax professionals that are advertising that you can receive hundreds even thousands of dollars back from this little 3% tax. The IRS has reported that a few people have tried to claim their entire bill instead of just the 3% tax. The IRS is coming down hard of individuals as well as tax professionals that abuse this credit.
   
Kathy Anderson, President of Lone Peak Business Solutions says, "This is a credit that is small but easy to receive. There is no reason for anyone who has had long distance service for the past four years to get their money back." For more information on this and other tax deductions go to http://www.lonepeakbusiness.com/downloads/tax/worksheets/tax_worksheets.html.

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