Consumers missing out on phone tax refund
New this year on federal income tax returns is a line that allows most people to take a one-time tax deduction for the federal excise taxes they’ve paid on phone bills over the past few years.
The amount ranges from $30 to $60 depending on the size or your family, or it can be for the actual amount you were charged if you want to go through about three years of past phone bills and add it up.
The government has been trying to tell people about the one-time deduction, but apparently the word hasn’t gotten out. The IRS says about 10 million early filers didn’t take the deduction on their returns. About half of those returns were filed by professional tax preparers.
That could amount to a minimum of $300 million that taxpayers are passing by – and that’s just based on the returns filed through Feb. 16.
Here’s the IRS’ alert.