Get your one-time phone tax refund this year

YOUNGSTOWN — There is a new, one-time perk that you will find on your 2006 federal income tax filing forms.

The Telephone Excise Tax Refund is designed to refund previously collected long-distance telephone taxes paid by individuals and businesses alike for the past several years.

The refund also is available for tax-exempt organizations, such as churches, on all taxes paid on long-distance phone calls made between Feb. 28, 2003, and Aug. 1, 2006.

An IRS press release says the government had been collecting a federal excise tax on long-distance phone calls until Aug. 1, 2006, when the tax was canceled.

Individuals can claim either a standard refund or calculate the actual amount of taxes paid to be refunded, which can be determined by going through phone bills from the past 41 months, the release says.

For full story, see Thursday's Vindicator and Vindy.com.