There is a call to repeal a cell phone tax most people probably don't even know they are paying.
Anybody who has ever tried to decipher a cell phone bill knows how tough it can be. One of the charges is a 3 percent fee on every cell phone bill in America. The origin of the tax predates the invention of the cellular phone by nearly a century.
Every time you use you cell phones, you are supporting the war effort -- the Spanish-American War (1898).
The fee began as a luxury tax on phones at the turn of the 19th Century. And we're all still paying for it today.
Phone bills don’t specify that the tax originates from the Spanish-American War. It is labeled as the federal excise tax, which amounts to 3 percent of every monthly bill.
At least three federal courts have ruled the tax illegal. Many cell phone companies support a repeal of that tax. But they say they are caught in the middle. "We're required to continue collecting that tax from our customers until the IRS tells us to stop doing that," said Merritt.
Some lawmakers are demanding cell phone companies stop collecting the tax and refund three years worth of fees.
But for now, every time you make a cell phone call, you'll continue to pay for a war fought more than 107 years ago.
According to the Web site
http://www.mywireless.org/, you can ask the IRS for a refund of up to three years of past taxes. You can also contact members of Congress to ask them to repeal the tax altogether.
PS: For those who don't understand the humor in the title of this post, the Spanish-American War was led by Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.