Congrats, America! After 108 years and 5 failed appeals, YOUR federal government will stop taxing your phone bill to pay for the Spanish-American War!

This means Teddy's Rough Riders finally got their back pay. Who says our moral and intellectual superiors in Washington can't get the job done?

Roto-Reuters: US to repeal federal long-distance phone tax

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday conceded a legal dispute over the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service and said the
Internal Revenue Service will refund tax paid on the service over the past three years.

In a statement, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow also urged Congress to repeal the excise tax on local telephone service.

The Justice Department will no longer pursue litigation on the long-distance issue, the statement said.

The Treasury Department said taxpayers can claim a refund on their 2006 returns for the long-distance tax, which was established in 1898 as a luxury tax on wealthy Americans who owned telephones.

Snow, at a press conference on Capitol Hill with lawmakers, said the tax was "antiquated" and well-rid of.

"It's not often you get to kill a tax, particularly one that goes back so far in history," Snow said, adding that Treasury was pleased to concede this tax was no longer useful.

Har dee har har har. I'm glad he has a sense of humor about it. I'm guessing they will make up the "shortfall" by squeezing us somewhere else.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the decision will lead to billion of dollars in refunds to U.S. consumers and businesses who have paid it, with refunds and lost revenue over the next five years adding up to about $60 billion.

Snow estimated the cost of refunding taxpayers for three years of past taxes would total about $13 billion, and said that there would be no problem in finding that amount.

Who keeps the last three years' phone bills? Only the compulsive and retentive among us will share this jackpot.

"The revenue stream is strong and can easily absorb this," Snow said.

Instant translation: We have more than enough of your hard earned money and we can always get more if we want it.

In response to questions, Snow said he could not specify how much of the refund might be made to businesses and how much to individuals. He also said Treasury could not yet estimate the size of refund an average individual could expect to get.