Wrangling for a refund

摘要

It's been about a decade since long-dis- tance carriers began flat-rating their per-minute toll charges instead of charging according to mileage bands. But only recently have many network managers begun to realize that this move should have changed the way the carriers apply taxes. Several dozen Fortune 500 corporations have filed requests with the Internal Revenue Service for refunds of the 3% federal excise tax on toll telephone service. Their argument: Under the law, the tax applies only to calls whose prices vary by time and distance. And hardly any interstate calls vary by distance now - a call from Chicago to Cincinnati costs the same as a call from Chicago to San Diego.