The Internal Revenue Service today urged taxpayers to check to see if they qualify for the telephone excise tax refund after more than 10 million early filers did not request the one-time refund.

In the first release of this year's weekly filing season statistics, about 30 percent of all taxpayers did not request the telephone tax refund.

"Many taxpayers are overlooking this special refund and the chance to get a bigger refund," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "We encourage taxpayers to spend a few extra minutes reviewing their tax return to make sure they are making an accurate request. A little extra time can mean a bigger refund check."

The government stopped collecting the long-distance excise tax last August after several federal court decisions held that the tax does not apply to long-distance service as it is billed today. Federal officials also authorized a one-time refund of the federal excise tax collected on service billed during the previous 41 months, stretching from the beginning of March 2003 to the end of July 2006. The tax continues to apply to local-only phone service.

To make the refund easier to figure, the government established a standard refund amount, based on personal exemptions, ranging from $30 to $60. If taxpayers have phone bills and other records, they can request the actual amount of excise tax paid. Though using the standard amount is optional, it is easy to figure and approximates the eligible amount for most individual taxpayers. Taxpayers only have to fill out one line on their return, and they don't need to present proof to the IRS.

Out of the tax returns filed through Feb. 16, more than 10 million taxpayers did not request the telephone tax refund. And nearly half of those returns - more than 4.8 million - were completed by a tax preparer.

"We are surprised how many tax preparers are overlooking the telephone tax refund," Everson said. "We want all taxpayers entitled to this refund to get it, whether they are using a tax preparer or doing the return themselves."