Telecom Tax Imposed in 1898 Fades Away

This tax has generated over $6 billion every year! That is a lot of pennies. Gee how nice that we all can get a refund, but just only for the last three years. Something is better than nothing.

I wonder does that mean we have to digg up our long distance phone bills for the last three years?

The U.S. Treasury said Thursday it will stop collecting a 108-year-old telecommunications tax assessed to support the brief Spanish-American War and offer tax refunds for the past three years.

The 3 percent federal excise tax applied to all long-distance calls since 1898, when it was put in place at a time when only the wealthiest Americans had access to long-haul telephone services. President McKinley put the tax in place to help defray the cost of the Spanish-American War, which was sparked by the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in February, 1898.

Century-Old Telecom Tax Fades Away