# Court rules Fed excise tax on cell calls illegal. Taxpayers due 9 billion in refunds! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265 "2006-01-16T21:09:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/1 "2006-01-16T21:09:35Z")
Interesting news item. [CELL TAX ILLEGAL](http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61611.htm) > [@](#): > > January 16, 2006 – The IRS is illegally collecting taxes from cellphone users to the tune of $9 billion over of the last three years, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday. > Of that, New York City residents are owed $275 million — about $50 per customer, Schumer said. > > The federal government started collecting taxes on long-distance calls way back in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish American War. > > But several courts have recently ruled that the tax — which is 3 percent of the total bill — does not apply to cellphones, since they are usually billed by the minute, not the distance. > > “The courts have now made it crystal clear that this tax is illegal, and yet the IRS continues to put it on everybody’s cellphone bill,” Schumer said during a press conference at his Midtown office yesterday. > > Earlier this month, a third federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., declared the tax “null and void.” > > “They’re violating the law,” he said. “The IRS asks all of us not to violate the law. Well, now we’re asking them the same.” [Court rules federal excise tax on cell phones illegal](http://phone.ioerror.us/2005/12/court-rules-federal-excise-tax-on-cell-phones-illegal) > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The federal government owes wireless phone subscribers about $9 billion in tax refunds for the 3% federal excise tax charged on their bills, which was ruled illegal by a federal court today; however, the paperwork is likely to put off most people from filing for the refund, according to USA TODAY. > > > > All told, three federal appeals courts have ruled that the federal excise tax, which began as a levy to fund the Spanish-American war, could not apply to telephone calls which were charged only by time, and not by distance. > > On Friday, a court in Washington, D.C., became the third federal appeals court since May to void the tax. Two other federal appeals courts, covering seven states, have ruled the tax unlawful, and cases are pending elsewhere in the nation’s 13 appeals courts. In all, nine federal courts have ruled that a 3% federal tax doesn’t apply to phone calls that are priced only by how long a person talks — not by how far the call travels. > > That means cellular phones, Internet phone service and about one-third of long distance calls would be exempt from the tax. The wireless industry estimates that consumers would save about $4.5 billion a year. Taxpayers also would be due three years of refunds — about $9 billion. > > The cellphone industry wants the tax removed immediately from bills and the money refunded. “Our customers shouldn’t be paying a tax that courts have repeatedly found illegal,” says Steve Largent, president of CTIA-The Wireless Association and a former Republican congressman. . . . > > “It sounds absurd, but the law is written so that the government can keep collecting a tax even though it’s been ruled unlawful,” says Hank Levine, a lawyer representing businesses that challenged the tax. Federal law makes it nearly impossible to get an injunction to stop the government from collecting a tax, he says. > > The average consumer would be entitled to a refund about the size of the average $49.52 monthly bill paid by the USA’s 195 million wireless subscribers. However, consumers would be required to seek refunds individually, documenting how much they paid each quarter in separate claims. > > The time limit for refunds is three years. A person entitled to a $50 refund would have to fill out forms a dozen times to get the three years’ worth of refunds permitted under tax law. Collecting records and preparing the form would take about seven hours. — USA TODAY ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/2 "2006-01-16T21:53:44Z")
Boy, they don’t make it easy, do they? It seems like the tax laws are written in such a way to make it nearly impossible to get your refunds. And why are we still funding the Spanish-American war, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/3 "2006-01-16T23:18:49Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > And why are we still funding the Spanish-American war, anyway? You know those wily Spaniards, always up to some damn sneaky thing! :::wonders when the first “Franco is still dead” joke will appear in this thread::: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/4 "2006-01-16T23:35:00Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > :::wonders when the first “Franco is still dead” joke will appear in this thread::: I just checked. He’s still dead. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/5 "2006-01-17T00:15:16Z")
Who, the General? ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/6 "2006-01-17T00:19:22Z")
As R.A. Wilson thoughtfully pointed out, the laws are intentionally written to be vague so that the lawyers can prove one side if that’s what they’re asked to prove, but also the other side if they have to prove _that_. Ahh, beauracracy. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/7 "2006-01-17T00:39:20Z")
> [@Hung Mung](#): > > Ahh, beauracracy. As in, “rule by Southern gentleman callers”? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/8 "2006-01-17T00:41:54Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Who, the General? No, the canned pasta magnate. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/9 "2006-01-17T01:08:35Z")
> [@YaWanna](#): > > As in, “rule by Southern gentleman callers”? 😛 Bah, may Gaudere’s Law strike ye sevenfold. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/10 "2006-01-17T01:36:31Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Who, the General? Nah, Franco Harris. There’s a reason they called it the Immaculate Reception, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/11 "2006-01-17T02:37:16Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Who, the General? No, James Franco, whose career _sans_ Spiderman would be nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/12 "2006-01-17T04:30:05Z")
> [@Hung Mung](#): > > No, James Franco, whose career _sans_ Spiderman would be nothing. Yeah, he’s had no sort of career outside of Spider-Man. [Except](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556) for the 27 other acting credits and writing and directing two independent features, one of which he also executive produced. But besides that, the guy’s got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/13 "2006-01-17T04:37:19Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Yeah, he’s had no sort of career outside of Spider-Man. [Except](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556) for the 27 other acting credits and writing and directing two independent features, one of which he also executive produced. > > But besides that, the guy’s got nothing. Oh, step off. I was teasing. I read that page before I posted and am well aware of his accomplishments. Your pardon, please, for besmirching the poor guy’s name. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/14 "2006-01-17T06:04:38Z")
Ladies and Gentlemen, the horse is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/15 "2006-01-17T17:08:20Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Boy, they don’t make it easy, do they? It seems like the tax laws are written in such a way to make it nearly impossible to get your refunds. > > And why are we still funding the Spanish-American war, anyway? Because the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. You do like freedom, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/16 "2006-01-17T18:14:24Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Because the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. I thought the cost of freedom was $2.99 for the first minute and $1.99 for each additional minute. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/17 "2006-01-17T20:27:20Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Nah, Franco Harris. No no no, **Jess** Franco. I mean, you can’t have enough movies about busty bimbos and the dark forces that menace them. And tear their clothes off. And stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/18 "2006-01-17T20:44:16Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Because the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. > > You do like freedom, don’t you? Not if I have to fill out forms in triplicate. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/19 "2006-01-18T16:40:23Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > :::wonders when the first “Franco is still dead” joke will appear in this thread::: Franco Zeffirelli died? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265/20 "2006-01-18T17:48:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > No, the canned pasta magnate. Boyardee? That’s not Spanish, is it? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/court-rules-fed-excise-tax-on-cell-calls-illegal-taxpayers-due-9-billion-in-refunds/340265.md?page=2)