We know it’s summer and you don’t want to think about taxes, but the IRS really wants to make sure you got that telephone tax refund, so they’re asking you to file an amended return if you forgot to claim it. With the money you’ll get you can buy lots of baseball hat cup sundaes!

From the IRS:

You can still request the telephone tax refund even if you filed a 2006 return but missed this unique refund. Simply file an amended return using Form 1040X.

The one-time refund of previously collected federal telephone excise taxes is owed to just about anyone who paid a phone bill in the last several years. You are eligible if you paid long-distance excise taxes on landline, cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), or bundled service that was billed for the period after Feb 28, 2003 and before Aug 1, 2006. (Bundled service is local and long-distance under a plan that does not separately list the charges.)

Eligible taxpayers have two options: requesting the actual amount of federal excise tax paid based upon your telephone bills for this period; or requesting the standard refund that ranges from $30-$60 based upon the number of exemptions you are entitled to claim on an individual income tax return.

Free money. The IRS says its no big deal if you already cashed your return check (and we’re assuming you did.) So file away!

Request Telephone Tax Refund By Amending Your Return [IRS]

2007 Form 1040X (Rev. February 2007) (PDF)
(Photo:Meghann Marco)

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