Determining the Federal Excise Tax on SBC/ATT Invoices?

Question

I have been able to determine the Federal Excise Tax on my past Sprint, MCI, and Cingular bills but I am not quite sure about my past SBC/ATT bills since they do not use the word Excise on the bill.

Now before anyone tells me to take the standard credit or starts copying and pasting from the IRS website, let me save you the trouble. With the 3 carriers listed above, I am already well above the standard credit (not to mention you cannot claim interest on the standard credit) and have read the IRS's "Telephone Tax Refund Questions and Answers" document thoroughly. I know the time frame allowed, I know that the Excise tax has to apply to Long Distance charges (unless it is a bundled service where the tax is not broken a part for local and long distance). There is a portion of the IRS document that says to look for phrases such as Federal, Federal Excise 3%, Federal Excise @ 3%, Federal Excise Tax, Federal Tax, Fed Excise Tax, and FET.

On my earlier bills (2003), the taxes are not broken apart by Local/Long Distance and under the taxes section there is an entry "Federal at 3%". On my newer bills (Early 2006), the Local/Long Distance are broken apart and under Long Distance, there is an entry for taxes that simply says Federal. Am I correct in assuming that these are the values I should be using? I called ATT support but they were of no help. They tried pointing me back to the IRS's website in which I told them I understood the rebate, but not how they list the Excise tax on the bill. They tried to claim that if the word Excise was not on my bill, I was not charged Excise tax. I am not sure I buy that. Anyone have any insight? Preferably someone with experience that is knowledgable with SBC/ATT bill layout?

Answer 1

I also have SBC/AT&T , I just reviewed my bills for the time period allowed for this credit and the Federal Excise Tax stopped showing on my bills after the June Bill. The Federal Excise Tax is clearly shown as Federal Excise Tax on all bills dating back from June on the bills.

Answer 2

It looks like ATT will provide you with a free FET report. Go to the their site and log in (or sign up - be prepared with a few odd digits from your bill) and search for FET or Federal Excise Tax. I have to admit I haven't done this yet because I didn't have my bill in front of me at the time, but I have hope it'll save me from digging out my old bills.

I tried the same with Sprint for my cell phone. Typical - Sprint wasn't very helpful - I couldn't even find a reference to the FET or Federal Excise Tax on their site even when I logged in, much less a free report.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I can't help you interpret the bills. I do have one question. About how much will your total Excise Tax be? You can claim the 'standard' amount without the work. The amount depends your exemptions on line 6d of the 1040 and is as follows:
1 exemption: $30.
2 exemptions: $40.
3 exemptions: $50.
4+ exemptions: $60.

If you don't think you will exceed the standard amount, save yourself the effort.