The IRS  announced yesterday (IR-2006-137) that individual taxpayers can claim a telephone excise tax refund of between $30 and $60 — depending on family size — without having to dig through their old phone bills to document their refund claims:

The standard amounts are based on the total number of exemptions claimed on the 2006 federal income tax return. The standard amounts are $30 for a person filing a return with one exemption, $40 for two exemptions, $50 for three exemptions and $60 for four or more exemptions. For example, a married couple filing a joint return with two dependent children (for a total of four exemptions) will be eligible for the maximum standard amount of $60.

• Telephone Tax Refund Questions and Answers
• IR-2006-82: Government to Stop Collecting Long-Distance Telephone Tax
• Notice 2006-50

Update:

• Associated press:  IRS Sets Up Phone-Tax Refund
• Bloomberg:  IRS: Phone-Tax Repeal to Net Families $60
• Don’t Mess with Taxes:  Ringing Up Phone Tax Refunds, by Kay Bell
• Reuters:  Refund for Individuals From Phone Tax
• Wall Street Journal:  IRS Sets Guidelines on Refunds for Discontinued Telephone Tax. by Robert Guy Mstthews