phone tax refund and how to apply?

Answer 1

If you had a phone in your name sometime between 2/28/03 and 8/1/06 and paid tax for long distance or bundled service, you are eligible for a refund of $30 to $60, depending the number of exemptions you are eligible to claim. This is a standard amount that you can take without showing the actual amounts paid. If you want to add up what was actually paid on your phone bills, you have that option.

If you are not otherwise going to file a return, you can file just form 1040EZ-T to get your refund.

If you are filing a return, there's a line in the "payments" section to enter the amount of your refund.

Answer 2

You can apply for the special one-time refund of federal excise tax on phone bills by:

line 71 on your 1040 form;

using form 1040EZ-T;

or if you have your phone bills from March 1, 2003 to July 31, 2006 AND the accumulated federal excise tax for those bills is more than the standardized refund amounts (varies from $30 to $60 depending upon circumstances) you can file form 8913 and append that to your 1040 or 1040EZ-T.

Answer 3

According to the IRS website:

"In general, anyone who paid the telephone tax on their long-distance or bundled service may be eligible to request the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations. The 2006 return is usually filed during 2007."

You do not need to apply, it is calculated on your 1040.