Last week, we blogged the IRS’s decision, after losing in five circuit courts of appeals, to throw in the towel and no longer seek to enforce the 3% excise tax on long-distance telephone calls enacted during the Spanish-American War of 1898.  Today’s Wall Street Journal has an follow-up editorial:  Adios to a Phone Tax:

The IRS will continue to collect the tax on local calls, but Mr. Snow to his credit did express support for the idea of Congress passing legislation to repeal the tax entirely. That would be the best outcome, and not just because a future administration might opt to begin collecting the tax again and restart the court battles. Another argument for full repeal is that so long as the tax exists, so will the political temptation to expand its scope and turn it into yet another revenue stream for the federal till. A Joint Tax Committee report issued last year suggested extending the excise tax to "all data communication services," including cable modems, cellular and DSL Internet connections.

Like the alternative minimum tax, the federal excise tax was intended to target "the rich," who at the time were the only ones who could afford a telephone. Yet our tax code still considers phones "luxury" items today. The last time Congress came close to ending this charade was 2000, when majorities in both the House and the Senate voted for repeal, which President Clinton vetoed. The Republican Congress, which may not be Republican much longer, might consider giving it another shot before November.