(Sorry, don't know how to make the font smaller on this.) 

Don't get greedy on the telephone excise tax refunds.....IRS is getting ornery.  Remember, if choose actual method, which you have to do if you want a rebate on business calls, it is only 3% of the long distance charges. ......100 per month is 3.00., x 41 months = 123. for the rebate period.  IRS has been getting claims for over 30,000.

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  The following--- from CCH......

NEWS-FEDERAL, 2007TAXDAY, (Feb. 19, 2007), Item #I.2, IRS Targets Tax Preparers' Abuse of Telephone Tax Refund Requests (IR-2007-36)

IRS special agents carried out search warrants in seven cities, targeting tax-preparation businesses suspected of preparing returns on behalf of clients requesting egregious amounts regarding the special telephone excise tax refund. The search warrants were served at tax-preparation businesses in Atlanta, Ga.; Dallas, Tyler and Athens, Texas; Riverside, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; and Baton Rouge, La. The businesses were temporarily closed and computers and documents to use in the investigations were seized. Additional tax preparers across the nation who are preparing questionable telephone tax refund requests are receiving visits from IRS revenue agents (auditors) and special agents. "We want everyone who is eligible for the telephone tax refund to claim it but not to inflate the amount requested," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson.

The IRS advised taxpayers to stay away from unscrupulous promoters and tax preparers who make false claims about the telephone tax refund and suggest that many, if not most, phone customers can get hundreds of dollars or more back under this program. The IRS also reminded taxpayers currently preparing their 2006 returns not to overlook the telephone tax refund. According to the IRS, approximately a third of filers are failing to request the special refund, many of whom may qualify and not know it. Service officials have observed certain problems with returns from tax preparers that may indicate criminal intent, such as requesting outrageous amounts, such as $30,000, as refunds for their clients in instances where clients are entitled to only a small fraction of that amount or claiming that taxpayers paid more for telephone service than they received in income. Other erroneous refund requests claim the entire amount of the phone bill, rather than just the three-percent long-distance tax. The IRS reminded filers that taxpayers who request more of a refund than they are entitled to receive will have their refunds held and be subject to an audit.

Collection of the long-distance excise tax was halted last August after several federal court decisions held that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as billed today. The IRS authorized a one-time refund of the federal excise tax paid on service billed during the previous 41 months, (from March 2003 through July 2006). The tax continues to apply to local-only phone service. The government has also established a standard refund amount, based on personal exemptions, ranging from $30 to $60. However, the actual amount of tax paid can be requested if taxpayers have phone bills and other records indicating the amounts.

Code Sec. 164