Telecom tax imposed in 1898 finally ends

Telecom tax imposed in 1898 finally ends | Tech News on ZDNet
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The Spanish-American War has been over for more than 100 years, and now so is the tax imposed in 1898 to help fund it.

As of Tuesday, all phone companies selling long-distance phone service are legally required to eliminate the 3 percent federal excise tax on long-distance service, which had been established in 1898 as a luxury tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones.

Verizon Communications said Tuesday that it has stopped collecting the 3 percent federal excise tax on monthly consumer telephone bills for long-distance and bundled services.

After a long legal battle and strong urging from Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury decided in May to discontinue the federal 3 percent excise tax on long-distance telephone service effective Aug. 1