Spanish-American War: It’s Over! We Win!
May 25, 2006 at 11:27 am
The U.S. Treasury Department today announced it is conceding the legal dispute over the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. The Department of Justice will no longer pursue litigation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will issue refunds of tax on long-distance service for the past three years.
What does this mean in practical terms? It means the Spanish-American War of 1898 is finally over. The tax was levied to help pay for the war.
And how is the victory being celebrated?
The Treasury Department went the low-key route in its press release headline:
Treasury Announces End to Long-Distance Telephone Excise Tax
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, however, couldn’t contain his euphoria:
“The telephone excise tax has outlasted two world wars, the Great Depression, and the start of two new centuries, but the federal government continued to needlessly tax basic telephone services. The war lasted only 220 days, yet this tax on talking has finally expired after over 39,000 days.”
Now if we could only blame the excise tax on the sinking of the battleship Maine.
Roberto Booee said,
May 26, 2006 @ 9:03 am
The Snow Is On The Mountain: all agents return to base.