IRS announces standard amounts for telephone tax refunds

By Daily Press staff

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the standard amounts that most long-distance customers can use to figure their telephone tax refund. The amounts, which range from $30 to $60, will enable millions of individual taxpayers to request the telephone tax refund without having to dig through old phone bills.

In general, anyone who paid the long-distance telephone tax will get the refund on their 2006 federal income tax return. This includes individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations. The 2006 return is usually filed during 2007.

The standard amounts are based on the total number of exemptions claimed on the 2006 federal income tax return. The standard amounts are $30 for a person filing a return with one exemption, $40 for two exemptions, $50 for three exemptions and $60 for four or more exemptions. For example, a married couple filing a joint return with two dependent children — for a total of four exemptions — will be eligible for the maximum standard amount of $60.

“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.”

To get the standard amount, eligible taxpayers only need to fill out one additional line on their regular 2006 return. The IRS is creating a special short form (Form 1040EZ-T) for those who don’t need to file a regular return.

The standard amounts are based on actual telephone usage data and the standard amount applicable to a family or other household reflects the long-distance phone tax paid by similarly sized families or households. Those who paid the long-distance tax on service billed after Feb. 28, 2003, and before Aug. 1, 2006, are eligible for a refund.

Only individuals can use the standard amounts. Alternatively, individual taxpayers can choose to figure their refund using the actual amount of tax paid.

Details on requesting the telephone tax refund will be included in all 2006 tax return materials and on irs.gov.

Though businesses and nonprofits must base their telephone tax refund on the actual amount of tax paid, the IRS is looking for ways to make the refund process easier for taxpayers. The IRS is considering an estimation method businesses and nonprofits may use for figuring the tax paid.

“Businesses and nonprofits generally have more varied usage patterns than individuals do,” Everson said. “We’ve met with a number of business and nonprofit groups to understand their concerns, and we plan to continue to work with them to come up with a reasonable method for estimating telephone excise tax refund amounts.”

Comments and suggestions for simplifying the refund process for businesses and nonprofits should be e-mailed to Telephone.Tax@irs.gov. The deadline for these comments is Sept. 15, 2006.



Local college granted $1.2M in economic development grants

By Daily Press staff

Santa Monica College has announced that it has received two economic development grants totaling $1.2 million to develop a program to train workers in the ever-expanding field of logistics — the global movement of goods and services — and in health care.

The two grants of $600,000 each were awarded by the California Community Colleges’ Chancellor’s Office.

The logistics training grant is designed to train 525 workers currently in the declining manufacturing industry — all of whom are facing job loss — in the emerging logistics field, in positions ranging from skip loaders to managers. It also will help those currently in the logistics field to upgrade their skills.

“Santa Monica College is perfectly positioned to provide this training, given our location in a region where logistics is one of the largest employment growth sectors and given our proximity to two of the world’s largest ports and Los Angeles International Airport,” said SMC Provost Marvin Martinez, who oversees the college’s office of workforce and economic development. “These grants demonstrate that SMC is on top of the trends in economic development in this region and is committed to preparing our workforce for excellent jobs in growth industries.”

Under the terms of the grant, the college will work in partnership with several other organizations, including Triangle Network, a logistics corporation in Los Angeles; Los Angeles and Long Beach port agencies; Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.; Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board; Center for International Trade and Development; and Long Beach Workforce Investment Board.

Logistics is the second largest employment sector in the United States and is forecast to continue to grow, according to industry professionals. Organizations spend nearly $800 billion a year on logistics in the United States, and worldwide more than $1.4 trillion is spent annually.

Jobs in logistics range from relatively unskilled positions, such as truck drivers, to sophisticated management posts in inventory control, production, warehouse operations and more. Industry officials say the field is particularly rich in offering new management opportunities.

The health care grant will allow SMC and industry partners to implement short-term training activities that enable individuals to enter the health care industry as certified nursing assistants, medical front office clerks, substance abuse counselors and home health aides. Up to 260 participants in the Los Angeles area, with at least 65 being CalWORKS recipients, will receive training. The project will help address the critical workforce shortages throughout California’s health care field.

SMC will work with the following partners on the grant project — Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board; American Caregivers Inc.; California Certification Board of Chemical Dependency Counseling; California Alcohol and Drug Program; and Golden State Adult Day Care Centers.