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Refund of Long-Distance Telephone Taxes
pertelote writes "Over 108 years after financing the Spanish American War, the tax on long-distance phone calls is finally being repealed. The IRS is supposed to refund our last three years worth of taxes for both landlines and cell phones on our returns next year. The phone companies sued because they did not want the hassle of collecting the tax. The tax is no longer in effect on 31 July, 2006." Don't get too excited about a big windfall. From the article: "Consumers, who pay about 40 percent of the taxes collected, typically pay about $18 a year in excise taxes if they have a long-distance service and a cellphone. They will be able to file for a refund on their 2006 federal income tax returns."
I don't want a refund. I want my money to go toward funding the FBI teams that are going after Rep. Jefferson. I want them expanded by several hundred agents and to have what happened to Jefferson to happen to the entire Congress. You want to save money? Bush the sons of bitches who spend nearly $2B on bridges to nowhere, $1B on repairing and then moving a perfectly good railroad and all of that other pork barrel crap. Sorry, they can keep my $18/year in exchange for the FBI continuing to go after these scumbags. I'd consider that some of the best $18 I've ever spent.
Are they ever going to repeal income tax which was only supposed to be 2% max? Many of us pay over 50% in taxes if you include gas tax, sales tax, income tax, property tax, etc etc.
for those of here in California, you might remember the sales tax history. it was capped at 6% forever, then when the earthquake hit northern california in 1989, they allowed a "temporary" sales tax increase to help pay for it. Well, it's going on 17 years now and Los Angeles is 8.25% and isn't going down anytime soon. The same is true of spending. It only gets larger and grows, which is the source of our current economic problems and even longer term nightmare. I understand alot of the political sympathies around here, many at odds with mine (mostly foriegn policy related) but at least there'd be enough sentiment for small governemnt. big brother is big brother, whether he's listening to your phone calls OR taking half your paycheck.
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
This is all about VOIP. And how VOIP doesn't pay these taxes. Traditional services complete with VOIP.
Unless the original legislation specifically states that the tax was enacted to defeat those damn'd Spaniards, "fraud" strikes me as overreaching. It'd be more like a company raised its prices because its suppliers were charging them more, then decided to keep them at that level when it discovered that the market would bear that price even after its suppliers' prices dropped again. Bad administration? Sure. Greedy? No argument with that. But criminal? Doubt it.
If they already have our phone records, couldn't they just analyze them to see who is elgible for the refund?
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
>Bowing to changes in technology and pressure from taxpayers and phone companies
The deeper significance here is that taxpayers don't mean squat but phone companies can get things done.
I'm not surprised, I always knew dollars were stronger than votes. I just hate having my nose rubbed in it.
Steve
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
"Problem is, the system rewards those who bring home the pork. See, the pork spent in your district is an investment, the pork spent in the other guy's state is wasted. We can put the whole of Congress in FPYITA prison. The newly-elected replacements will preach financial responsibility and restraint for about two election cycles, then it will be right back where it was."
Of course it will. The people preaching fiscal responsability, mean they want it applied to someone elses "pork". Hands off their "investment".* And les you all forget the ones doing the preaching are you and I. So point all we want to the other guy, just don't forget yourselves.
*Oh you know. "save our [IT] jobs", "unemployment is bad in our state. Do something!", "that [insert your pet peeve here] is picking on me. Do something!", "gas prices are too high. do something!" With "doing something! usually requiring money.
Does this mean the Spanish-American war is finally over? Did we win?
We all acknowledge that there is some waste in government....until it comes to the programs you like! Taxes do good things--they generally build roads to somewhere...they pay for schools...they pay for police, fire, and other stuff. In business, you get what you pay for. In business, waste takes on forms like Ken Lay or Jeff Skilling....and other overpaid CEOs. (and, oh yes--it was GOVERNMENT, in the form of prosecutors, not stockholders, who held them accountable.!) Guess what--the principle works the same in government. You get what you pay for. You don't like it--then get involved in the process and change it. This phone tax is a red herring....a right-wing fakeout to avoid the fallout over huge tax cuts to the rich which vastly overshadow the cost of this little sop to the masses. I say keep my $18. Give me good roads, and good schools. Hunt down the criminals. Feed kids who go to bed hungry. And yes--make those who benefit the most in our society bear the burden for taking care of the least among us.
I had another thought and it relates to the point of taxes not going way.
In Pa. you have something similar. That whole alcohol system was developed. And now, today, it remains the way it is not because of people's views of alcohol but mainly because it is an entrenched system. There are people with a vested stake in it remaining the same. And they will care more and have a louder voice than the vast majority of people who want change. The average person, in this case, is annoyed by the system but doesn't have a vested interest.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
[a soft, scraping noise is heard as the soapbox is pushed closer to the keyboard]
Am I the only American who has noticed that our governments, the Federal one in particular, have spiraled way out of control (I doubt it)? The Fed has usurped so many powers originally intended for the States that it only vaguely resembles what was laid out by our founders. It was never intended for our Senators and Representives to be full-time, sometimes lifelong (albeit by election) positions. Nowhere is an exclusivley two-party system endorsed by our foundational documents (the Constitution, etcetera). State militias were devised in order to keep our Federal government in check, not as an auxillary force in time of need. And above all, our government was never supposed to be a for-profit concern.
We the American public need a revolution! No, I'm not talking an armed conflict. I'm talking about an educated public demanding that their government serve them, not vice versa. We need to demand term limits for Congresspersons and Federal Justices. We need to limit Federal speding via a reduction of cash flow. We can do this via a reduction in Federal taxes. Why does the government need so much money? They have fallen into the trap of thinking that the Government needs to be the baby-sitter of the American public. Providing for the common defense and general welfare of the public does not include paying farmers NOT to farm or subsidizing sheep/wool farmers. Specific cases such as these are best handled by those that are closest to the problems: the States.
The States need to take back their rightful powers. By severely reducing Federal income taxes and expenditures, States will have the ability to fairly tax their residents and handle their own internal problems and promote ideas and programs specifically tailored to their citizens' needs.
We need to mobilize and educate. We need to make demands of our government and not take "No" for an answer. They are supposed to be serving us. We need to make them honor that trust. And above all, we need to vote! Even if that means standing in the rain for hours in line. We need to write and phone our elected officials on a regular basis to let them know our concerns and find out how they are representing us. It is only through action that we will win back control of our government and set things on the right path again.
[pushes soapbox back under desk]