Have a work cell phone?

nixium

Senior member
Aug 25, 2008
919
3
76
.. and uncle sam wants a piece of the action.

Link

Now, I'm no fringe "no-tax" absolutist, but this proposal strikes me as inane. The good news is that carriers are fighting the proposal, so there are some heavyweights on our side.

It just points to the fact that the public has to be really vigilant, especially in these trying economic times, to make sure such taxes aren't sneaked in. Who knows what else the IRS plans on taxing?

Edit: Fixed link
 

Drakkon

Diamond Member
Aug 14, 2001
8,401
1
0
The problem is the CEO's and execs are using the cells as a tax deduction due to a loophole in tax law. If this loophole was closed by congress they'd not be able to tax on it. yet another example of the shortsighted nature of the irs/congress and the loopholes the upper class can use to get around paying their fair share.

Not saying im for this measure though. I think it is BS to try and guestimate someone's minute usage and charge them for it because works provided them with a tool. Whats next we get charged for our internet access because we can check email (or AT as the case may be?:p)?
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,227
36
91
I write off my cellphone bill on my schedule C...so now they are going to tax me personally :confused:
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
A comment in that link about using personal for work. You can bet your silly ass there won't be a tax deduction for those who don't have a work phone and do use their personal for work.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,924
45
91
Originally posted by: Skoorb
A comment in that link about using personal for work. You can bet your silly ass there won't be a tax deduction for those who don't have a work phone and do use their personal for work.

I'm not sure if you could deduct that or not, but you'd have to hit the 2% of AGI requirement before you could deduct it, right? So most people wouldn't be able to deduct anything anyway.
 

feralkid

Lifer
Jan 28, 2002
16,399
4,457
136
"However, the tax collector said employees could avoid being taxed under the proposal if they were able to prove they used personal cellphones for non-work-related calls during work hours."

How is this bad again?
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,095
513
126
Our govt is getting desperate to find a new revenue stream. That said how the hell do they honestly expect to enforce such a tedious tax law?
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Originally posted by: Genx87
Our govt is getting desperate to find a new revenue stream. That said how the hell do they honestly expect to enforce such a tedious tax law?
Not really. This sounds more like some mid-level IRS bureaucrats being rigid about the letter of the law. The rule maybe made sense in 1989 when cell phones were still exotic and expensive, and having use of one truly was a significant benefit. It makes no sense today. It's almost as silly as suggesting employees be taxed for the portion of an employer's light bill they use to for personal reading, or Internet costs for personal surfing. Maybe we should tax employees on the value of the ink they use writing personal grocery lists or addressing personal envelopes.

The IRS needs to be sensible about where they draw the line. Incidental personal cell phone usage isn't it. That rule should be retired.
 

Engineer

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
39,234
701
126
From another forum (this law dates back to 1989)...and Congress is actually looking to repeal it.

posted by zmre2b9
Facts are sometimes helpful in diffusing mass hysteria:

http://www.reuters.com/article.../idUSTRE55B4RP20090...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An effort by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to revamp the way employers and workers account for personal cell phone use is intended to save companies money, an IRS official said on Friday.

A law dating to 1989 requires companies seeking to deduct worker cell phones as an expense to track personal use with painstaking documentation of minutes. The IRS says a notice issued this week is intended to make it easier for employers and workers to comply with the law.

"Minute by minute documentation really doesn't make any sense -- we've been hearing all about it, and we said yes it makes no sense," said a senior IRS official, who was not authorized to speak for attribution.

Proposed changes issued by the IRS are intended to "reduce how much employers have to spend trying to comply with the tax law," the official added.

Under current law, workers are required to pay tax on personal cell phone use on a work phone as a fringe benefit.

The IRS this week issued a notice seeking public comment on ways to revise the current system. Options include letting employers deduct the entire sum of a worker's cell phone use if a worker can establish she uses a personal phone for some period, and letting employers use statistical sampling to generalize about usage.

Another idea is for employers to assign a set rate for business use, 75 percent proposed by the IRS, with the remaining treated as personal use.

"For employers we thought we should give them alternative ways to take these deductions," the IRS official said.

The agency will take public comment on the proposals until September 2, 2009.


REPEAL SOUGHT

The IRS effort could add impetus to an effort by the cell phone industry and business community to scrap the law entirely.

"The policy rationale of the late 1980s when this law was passed was a time when cell phones were a luxury," said John Taylor, a spokesman for Sprint Nextel Corp. "Think about the all you can eat rate plans we offer. For an employer that is a burdensome record-keeping requirement."

Lawmakers last year came close. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a repeal and the Senate got 60 sponsors for its bid.

The measures, which have bipartisan backing, have been reintroduced again this year.

The cell phone industry, the Chamber of Commerce and others last week wrote leaders of the House and Senate committees that would take up the bills to lobby for its passage.

"Meeting these strict substantiation requirements burdens the business use of cell phones, dampens the use of advanced technology and is impractical given their frequent use in a fast-paced global work environment," the coalition wrote in their letter, dated May 5.
 

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,413
616
126
who the hell keeps track of their personal and business minutes? just more government bullshit.

 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
175
106
What a "benefit!"

My BB buzzes everytime I get a work email or text while I'm not at work! Please tax me on that!
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: feralkid
"However, the tax collector said employees could avoid being taxed under the proposal if they were able to prove they used personal cellphones for non-work-related calls during work hours."

How is this bad again?
See Citrix's response.
 

feralkid

Lifer
Jan 28, 2002
16,399
4,457
136
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: feralkid
"However, the tax collector said employees could avoid being taxed under the proposal if they were able to prove they used personal cellphones for non-work-related calls during work hours."

How is this bad again?
See Citrix's response.

Hmmm, press "menu, incoming calls". Ouch, thumb snapped off.

 

Triumph

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
15,031
13
81
Originally posted by: child of wonder
What a "benefit!"

My BB buzzes everytime I get a work email or text while I'm not at work! Please tax me on that!

Only if you get paid for reading it. I count that shit as OT if it becomes significant.
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
The IRS Commissioner is now also calling for a repeal of this law:
IRS now wants to repeal cell phone tax

June 16, 2009, 07:47 PM ? IDG News Service ?

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is now recommending that a complicated law that would tax personal usage of business cell phones be repealed, after the agency caused an uproar last week with attempts to simplify the law.

On Tuesday, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asked Congress to make it clear that neither businesses nor employees will need to pay taxes on personal use of cell phones provided by employers.

Just last week the IRS requested public comments on ways to clarify the decades-old law. The request created an uproar because it implied that the largely ignored rule would now be enforced.

While workers are unenthusiastic about any new tax, this one might be particularly burdensome for both employees and employers because of the difficulty of tracking the personal use of company phones.

In its request for comments last week, the IRS suggested three possible ways to simplify enforcement of the law, including requiring people to prove that they have another cell phone that they use during the day for personal use. Alternatively, the IRS suggested that businesses might assume that 75 percent of employee use of the phones is for work and the rest for personal matters. The third method would let employers use an approved statistical sampling method to measure employees' personal use of their business cell phones.

But now the IRS says the law shouldn't be on the books. "The passage of time, advances in technology, and the nature of communication in the modern workplace have rendered this law obsolete," Shulman wrote.

He also said that last week's request for comment wasn't meant to imply that the IRS hoped to revive the law. "Some have incorrectly implied that the IRS is 'cracking down' on employee use of employer-provided cell phones. To the contrary, the IRS is attempting to simplify the rules and eliminate uncertainty for businesses and individuals," he wrote.


The CTIA wireless association applauded the IRS' latest move. "A repeal of the archaic listed property rule is the most sensible and fair action to take on behalf of every American who uses their wireless device for professional and personal purposes," Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA, said in a statement.

Kudos.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
8,038
136
That's how I got my first cell phone. They gave it to me. After a few years they told me I had to supply my own. This was a part time telecommute. So, I bought my own and have supported my own habit. Lately, with prepaid, which is saving me a bundle.