Old Taxes Die Hard

Here's one of those "temporary" taxes - enacted in 1898 - that will finally go away:

The Treasury Department announced this morning that after losing in five circuit courts of appeals, the Government is throwing in the towel and will no longer seek to enforce the 3% excise tax on long-distance telephone calls enacted during the Spanish-American War of 1898 as a "luxury" tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones. The IRS will will issue $15 billion in refunds to consumers for long-distance telephone service taxes paid over the past three years.

This will be another line item on the 2006 tax returns, but don't expect much real money.