Huh...IRS looking for way to tax personal use of business phones

[whoaru99]

"Specifically, the IRS has started to implement regulations for identifying personal versus business usage on company cell phones. ... "To be able to exclude the use by an employee from taxable income from an employer-owned cell phone, the employer must have some method to require the employee to keep records that distinguish business from personal phone charges. If the telephone is used exclusively for business, all use is excludable from income (as a working condition fringe benefit). The amount that represents personal use is included in the wages of the employee. This includes individual personal calls, as well as a pro rata share of monthly service charges." [IRS]

"While these regulations are only in their infancy phase at this time and only applicable to government agencies, it is only a matter of time before these regulations become a requirement for all businesses."


If I have to keep one more report or one more log I think I might go bag groceries for a living. I wonder how the IRS will make out on that trade vs my current income?

I also like this part... "If the telephone is used exclusively for business, all use is excludable from income (as a working condition fringe benefit)." Don't know the idiot that wrote that, but clearly they don't have to carry a cell phone for business. The fringe benefit is the personal use thereof, not the exclusive use for business, IMO.