The Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) is a one-time payment available on your 2006 federal income tax return. It is designed to refund previously collected long distance telephone taxes. Individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations are eligible to request it.
Questions? We've got answers.
This refund will be the most wide-reaching in IRS history - more than 160 million filers may request it. That's a lot of questions.
If you don't find your answer, follow the instructions at the bottom of the Qs and As for contacting the IRS for assistance.
Take Note
Check here for the latest updates on refund requests.
Corporations with a March 15, 2007 tax-filing deadline, here are the
interest factors to use for figuring your telephone tax refund.
Early tax returns, including those filed by tax professionals for their clients, show that about 30 percent of taxpayers are not requesting the telephone excise tax refund for which they may qualify. See news release
IR-2007-40.
The IRS is taking additional steps to prevent abuse by tax preparers and help taxpayers make accurate requests for the one-time telephone excise tax refund. See news releases
IR-2007-36 and
IR-2007-27 and fact sheet
FS-2007-12.
The IRS has started processing tax returns that claim key tax provisions renewed by legislation enacted in December and urges taxpayers not to overlook the one-time telephone tax refund. See news release
IR-2007-26.
Early tax returns show some people are making basic mistakes when requesting the refunds, others are requesting excessive amounts and many are missing out altogether. Get tips for requesting the telephone excise tax refund. See news release
IR-2007-21..
Individuals
Taxpayers have a choice: a standard refund amount between $30 and $60, based on the total number of exemptions claimed on their 2006 tax return, to eliminate the need to locate old phone bills; or they can locate those bills and use the actual amount.
Businesses and Tax-Exempt Organizations
Businesses and tax-exempts can dig through their old phone bills for the past 41 months to base their telephone tax refund on the actual amount of tax paid. Or they can review their bills for 2 months and use a special formula to figure the refund.
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Likewise, tax-exempts, including churches and charities, must fill out
Form 8913 and attach it to Form 990-T.
Media and Partners
We have information and tools you can use to tell millions of people about how to request the Telephone Excise Tax Refund.
Related Links:
- Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid
- Instructions for Form 8913, Credit for Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid
- 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax
- IR-2007-52, Free File Available for Requesting Telephone Tax Refund
- FS-2007-12, Tax Return Preparer Fraud
- IR-2007-40, 10 Million Taxpayers Miss Out on Telephone Tax Refunds; IRS Urges People to Check before Filing
- IR-2007-37, Fraudulent Telephone Tax Refunds, Abusive Roth IRAs Top Off 2007 �Dirty Dozen� Tax Scams
- IR-2007-36, IRS Moves to Stop Abusive Telephone Tax Refund Requests; Search Warrants Target Tax Preparers in Seven Cities Nationwide
- IR-2007-27, IRS Moves to Prevent Telephone Tax Refund Abuse; Help Taxpayers Make Accurate Requests
- IR-2007-21, Mistakes Abound on Telephone-Tax Refund Requests; IRS Offers Tips for Getting a Speedy Refund
- IR-2007-16, Some Telephone Tax Refund Requests May Be Too High; IRS Will Deny Improper Requests
- Telephone Tax Refunds: Questions and Answers for Businesses and Tax-Exempt Organizations
- Telephone Tax Refund: Questions and Answers for Individuals
- IR-2006-179, Businesses and Tax-Exempts Can Use Formula for Telephone Tax Refund
- IR-2006-137, IRS Announces Standard Amounts for Telphone Tax Refunds
- Notice 2006-50, Communications Excise Tax; Toll Telephone Service
- IR-2006-82, Government to Stop Collecting Long-Distance Telephone Tax
- Treasury Department News Release