IRS considers tax on company-issued cell phones

[ryanduff]

The use of company-issued mobile phones could trigger new federal income taxes on millions of Americans as a "fringe benefit."

The Internal Revenue Service proposed employers assign 25% of an employee's annual phone expenses as a taxable benefit. Under that scenario, a worker in the 28% tax bracket, whose wireless device costs the company $1,500 a year, could see $105 in additional federal income tax.

The IRS, in a notice issued this week, said employees could avoid tax liability if they showed proof they used personal cellphones for nonbusiness calls during work hours. The agency also could decide on a ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124473141538306335.html

If anybody has a WSJ subscription and wouldn't mind posting the rest, that'd be great.

 

[jrkotrla]

just from that snippit it's very upsetting. If they had to prove that I used the company cell phone for personal calls, and it was merely a company policy that then decided it a percentage of the cell-phone expense was considered as a benefit, that's one thing. But now I have to prove I'm using a different phone? I don't have a cell phone. That makes me automatically guilty?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=19675

http://www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/article/0,,id=167154,00.html