During the Spanish American War (~1898), the US government added a "temporary" tax on these newfangled telephone things that only rich folks had. It was just to fund that war effort. After the war, it grew into a tax on "communications services."
I had thought it was finally repealed 15 years ago, but in looking up the details to avoid providing bad info, I found that:
"On January 25, 2011, Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) introduced H.R. 428, a bill "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on telephone and other communications services"; it was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee,[33] but was not enacted."
I had thought it was finally repealed 15 years ago, but in looking up the details to avoid providing bad info, I found that:
"On January 25, 2011, Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) introduced H.R. 428, a bill "To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on telephone and other communications services"; it was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee,[33] but was not enacted."