On May 25, 2006, the Treasury Department announced it was conceding the legal dispute over the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. After multiple losses in the Federal courts, the Treasury dept. rolled over on the tax. Subsequently, taxpayers will no longer have to pay the tax as of July 31, AND the IRS will issue a 3-year refund on the tax paid on long distance services, bundled services and certain wireless plans.
To collect the refund, taxpayers will have file before the Deadline.
From USA Today: "A pesky, century-old tax on your phone bill is finally being put to rest. The Treasury Department said Thursday that it will no longer collect a 3% federal excise tax on long-distance calls and would refund about $15 billion to taxpayers. The tax was imposed in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War."
Windfall for Companies: The estimated return for any taxpayer will be equal to 120% of your average monthly bill. Assume an average bill of $30,000 per month. The expected return will be $36,000 plus interest!
Difficulties for Companies: However, while the money is significant - arriving at a number to report on the tax return will be tedious at best - corporations must total the taxes paid over the last three years. There is no safe arbor amount for corporations. Filing for the refund will entail totaling the tax for each service type for each of the 36 months. The difficulties for enterprises will be:
1. Knowing which billings qualify for the refund since not all telecom bills qualify. 2. Knowing where the tax is on each bill that qualifies. 3. Training personnel to comb through the bills for this one time event. 4. Compiling backup to protect you in case of an IRS audit.
The IRS will require taxpayers to retain records that substantiate the request. These records should include bills from the collector that show the amount of tax charged for nontaxable service for each month during the relevant period
The Service
Our FET Recapture service will make sure that you receive the maximum refund possible with the least amount of time taken away from other core competencies.
TeleLink Will:
Identify which of your telecom billings qualify for the refund
Assist in compiling relevant billings
Parse out the tax on each bill from the myriad of other taxes & surcharges
Tally the charges for the 36 month period
Provide a filing package that will stand up to an IRS audit that will include a
spreadsheet detailing the tax from each bill from each month and ALL
supporting bills
Fee:
Base filing fee plus 10% of the refund.
Service Guarantee:
We guaranteed that your refund will be twice the filing fee or we will waive the base fee.
Why TeleLink:
As telecom auditors for over a decade, we specialize in securing refunds and savings for our clients on their telecom billings. Over the past 10 years, we have saved our clients in excess of 10 million dollars without reducing the level of service provided from the carriers. To produce these results means being very adept at reading and understanding every charge on each telecom bill, the taxes billed and interfacing with the carriers. All this translates into added benefits to maximize your excise tax refund.
"It's not often you get to kill a tax," - Treasury Secretary John Snow Likewise, it is not very often that you get to get a tax back!
Next Step to securing a refund:
Contact us directly to see if the service is right for you. Call us at (888) 456-LINK or use the form below to send us an email.
