May 26, 2006
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER TAX CUT:
Century-old phone tax for war is defeated (Bloomberg News, May 26, 2006)
More than a century after the Spanish-American War, phone companies have succeeded in getting rid of the tax created to pay for it.Treasury Secretary John Snow announced Thursday that the government is "conceding the issue" over the 108-year-old U.S. excise tax on long-distance calls and will refund about $13 billion in taxes paid for the past three years.
In past years five appeals courts have said the tax is illegal, and Republican lawmakers in Congress sought to abolish it.
One of those trivial issues that drives the Right crazy, but you have to throw them a bone as you whip them.. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 26, 2006 12:06 PM
You're right, we do get our backs up when our government acts like a gang of cynical thugs.
Posted by: Lou Gots at May 26, 2006 12:21 PM
Why should the Spanish-American War have been any different than the rest?
Posted by: oj at May 26, 2006 12:31 PMThe Administration would have hit a home run if it said the tax was being eliminated and the $13BN was being used to build the US-Mexico fence.
Posted by: AWW at May 26, 2006 12:36 PMAWW - Presumably they lost a court case three years ago, and are liable for taxes collected since. To end the disputes, they have to refund the improperly collected taxes. However, they could use the other 105 years of improper taxes to build the fence.
Posted by: pj at May 26, 2006 3:58 PMPJ - I gathered that they had to refund the money. Was thinking of it more from a pr point of view.
Posted by: AWW at May 26, 2006 4:25 PMCongress should spend more time reviewing old laws and repealing those who have no purpose anymore.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at May 26, 2006 4:44 PM