New Yorkers miss out on telephone tax refunds

The Internal Revenue Service urged New Yorkers to see if they qualify for the telephone excise tax refund after more than 10 million early filers did not request the one-time refund.

During a recent three-week period more than 406,000 New York taxpayers out of nearly 1.5 million returns reviewed, or about 27 percent, failed to request the refund, leaving an estimated $12.2 million that New Yorkers could have received. Nationwide, about 30 percent of all taxpayers did not request the telephone tax refund.

"We want all eligible persons to request the telephone excise tax refund. We've also designed a special form for individuals such as seniors who might not otherwise have to file a tax return this year - the 1040EZ-T," said Kevin McKeon, IRS New York spokesperson.

To make the refund easier to figure, the government established a standard refund amount, based on personal exemptions, ranging from $30 to $60. If taxpayers have phone bills and other records, they can request the actual amount of excise tax paid. Though using the standard amount is optional, it is easy to figure and approximates the eligible amount for most individual taxpayers. Taxpayers only have to fill out one line on their return, and don't need to present proof to the IRS.

Information on this refund can be found in the Telephone Excise Tax Refund section on the front page of IRS.gov.

March 4, 2007