Good news! The Spanish-American War is over. Mission accomplished! We can now stop paying the government for it.
There has been a 3% tax added to long distance telephone service charges since 1898, before income tax took effect. The funds from this tax were used to pay for that particular war. While it seems from our point of view that this would be a good way to tax all Americans, at the time only the very wealthy had telephone service. The tax was never repealed, but thanks to corporations looking at their expenses. The Treasury Secretary agreed. Snow said,
Today is a good day for American taxpayers; it marks the beginning of the end of an outdated, antiquated tax that has survived a century beyond its original purpose, and by now should have been ancient history. The Federal Appeals courts have spoken across the board. It’s time to “disconnect” this tax and put it on the permanent “do not call” list.
He’s so funny. Anyway, tax payers should see some kind of refund for taxes paid back to Feb. 28, 2003 including interest. Here’s a news announcement about the refund and here’s more about the tax itself.
Published or updated May 25, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This war isn’t over until Antonio Banderas is captured or killed.
I think he’s been in hiding since Shrek 2.
It just goes to show you, no tax dies easily and no tax is every truely termporary.
Have a wonderful weekend,
makingourway