The IRS has announced the standard amounts that most long-distance customers can use to figure their telephone tax refund. The standard amounts are based on the total number of exemptions claimed and range from $30 to $60.

The amounts per number of exemptions are:

1 exemption = $30
2 exemptions = $40
3 exemptions = $50
4 exemptions = $60

The refunds are for tax paid on long-distance telephone service between February 28, 2003 and August 1, 2006. To get the standard amount taxpayers need only fill out one extra line on their 2006 returns.

You can file actual taxes paid and receive a refund if you gather the 41 months’ worth of documentation. Those who would benefit from filing based on actual tax paid might find it worth analyzing their telephone bills for that period.

“The easiest way for eligible taxpayers to get their money back is to use the standard amounts,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “These amounts save taxpayers from locating 41 months of old phone bills and analyzing these bills to determine the taxes paid. We believe the standard amounts are both reasonable and fair.”

The IRS made a decision to stop collecting the long-distance telephone tax, first imposed in 1898, after five federal appeals courts decided that it did not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today.

IRS Announces Standard Amounts for Telephone Tax Refunds