Long distance tax refund still available

Telephone customers in California can still request this year's one-time long-distance telephone tax refund.

The refund of previously collected federal telephone excise taxes is owed to "just about anyone who paid a phone bill in the last several years," according to an IRS spokesperson. Anyone who paid long-distance excise taxes on landline, cellphone, Voice over Internet Protocol or bundled service that was billed from March 2003 through July 2006 is eligible. Bundled service is local and longdistance under a plan that does not separately list the charges.

The refund covers the 3 percent tax paid on long-distance and bundled service.

Those who filed a tax return for 2006 but failed to request the refund can file an amended return using Form 1040X, entering the credit on line 15. The form, available at www.IRS.gov, must be filed on paper; it cannot be e-filed.

Those who don't normally have to file a return can use form 1040EZ-T to request the refund.

Using copies of the relevant phone bills, the exact amount paid can be requested by completing Form 8913 and attaching it to the 1040 form.

The government stopped collecting the tax in August 2006 after several federal court decisions determined that the tax doesn't apply to long-distance service as it is billed today. The tax applies to local-only phone service.

For more information or to receive the forms without Internet access, call (800) 829-3676.