OntheWilderSide

Telephone Excise Tax Refund

Frequent updates — last revised Feb. 7, 2007

The Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) is a one-time payment available on your 2006 federal income tax return. It is designed to refund previously collected long distance telephone taxes. Individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations are eligible to request it.

Questions? We’ve got answers.

This refund will be the most wide-reaching in IRS history — more than 160 million filers may request it. That’s a lot of questions.

• Qs and As for Individuals
• Qs and As for Businesses and Tax-Exempt Organizations

If you don’t find your answer, follow the instructions at the bottom of the Qs and As for contacting the IRS for assistance.

Take Note

Check here for the latest updates on refund requests.

• The IRS is taking additional steps to prevent abuse by tax preparers and help taxpayers make accurate requests for the one-time telephone excise tax refund. See news release IR-2007-27 and fact sheet FS-2007-12.
• The IRS has started processing tax returns that claim key tax provisions renewed by legislation enacted in December and urges taxpayers not to overlook the one-time telephone tax refund. See news release IR-2007-26. 
• Early tax returns show some people are making basic mistakes when requesting the refunds, others are requesting excessive amounts and many are missing out altogether. Get tips for requesting the telephone excise tax refund. See news release IR-2007-21.
• Some taxpayers have requested large and apparently improper amounts for the telephone tax refund. Use caution when figuring your actual amount of tax paid. See news release IR-2007-16.

Individuals

Taxpayers have a choice: a standard refund amount between $30 and $60, based on the total number of exemptions claimed on their 2006 tax return, to eliminate the need to locate old phone bills; or they can locate those bills and use the actual amount.

• Choosing the standard refund amount? You’ll find an extra line on your tax returns for the refund.
• Find those old phone bills? You can figure the refund using the actual amount of tax paid. Fill out Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid, and attach it to your return.
• Don’t need to file a return? You can still request the refund. Use the new Form 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax, to choose the standard amount. Attach Form 8913 to Form 1040EZ-T if you use the actual amount. Also, some companies offer free e-filing of Form 1040EZ-T.
• Filing Schedule C, E or F? You may be eligible to use the special formula for businesses if you have more than $25,000 in gross receipts.

Businesses and Tax-Exempt Organizations

Businesses and tax-exempts can dig through their old phone bills for the past 41 months to base their telephone tax refund on the actual amount of tax paid. Or they can review their bills for 2 months and use a special formula to figure the refund.

• Businesses must fill out Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid, and attach it to the income tax return they normally file: Form 1120, Form 1120S, Form 1065 or Form 1041.
• Likewise, tax-exempts, including churches and charities, must fill out Form 8913 and attach it to Form 990-T.

Media and Partners

We have information and tools you can use to tell millions of people about how to request the Telephone Excise Tax Refund.

• Partner and media toolkit
• Downloadable materials

Related Items

• IR-2007-27, IRS Moves to Prevent Telephone Tax Refund Abuse; Help Taxpayers Make Accurate Requests
• IR-2007-26, IRS Begins Processing Returns Claiming Extender Deductions; Urges Taxpayers to File Electronically, Check on Phone Tax Refund
• IR-2007-16, Some Telephone Tax Refund Requests May Be Too High; IRS Will Deny Improper Requests
• FS-2007-12, Tax Return Preparer Fraud
• Exempt Organizations – Frequently Asked Questions
• IR-2006-179, Businesses and Tax-Exempts Can Use Formula for Telephone Tax Refund
• IR-2006-137, IRS Announces Standard Amounts for Telephone Tax Refunds
• IR-2006-82, Government to Stop Collecting Long-Distance Telephone Tax
• Treasury Department News Release
• Notice 2006-50, Communications Excise Tax; Toll Telephone Service (PDF)
• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2006-25, June 19, 2006 (PDF)

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