IRS to Refund $15 Billion of Telephone Taxes to Consumers

TaxProf Blog reports The Treasury Department and IRS announced this morning that after losing in five circuit courts of appeals,

This shows how much even a Republican government likes tax revenue. It took five loses in circuit courts of appeal to convince them to stop trying to collect this "temporary" 1898 "luxury" tax from the Spanish-American War.

the Government is throwing in the towel and will no longer seek to enforce the 3% excise tax on long-distance telephone calls enacted during the Spanish-American War of 1898 as a "luxury" tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones. The IRS will will issue $15 billion in refunds to consumers for long-distance telephone service taxes paid over the past three years

Glenn Reynolds blogged It's a nice reminder of how long "temporary" taxes can last, and of how taxes targeted at "the rich" often turn out to reach others.