Quote :

"IRS Considers Taxing Personal Use of Work Cell Phones as 'Fringe Benefit' The IRS is weighing proposals to tax up to one-quarter of employees' use of work cell phones as private use -- and thus subject to taxation by the government. By The Wall Street Journal The proposal is one of several options the IRS put forward this week on the tax treatment of employer-provided cell phones. Current law already requires that the value of those cell phone services be included in a worker's gross income, unless the employee keeps detailed records showing that the cell phone is used for work only -- an idea cell phone trade groups are objecting to. "The idea that you should keep a log saying, 'I made a call saying I will be late for dinner again,' that's a totally cumbersome and burdensome requirement that most employers and employees are not going to comply with," said Jot Carpenter, vice president of government affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association. The IRS, in a Monday notice, proposed options intended to simplify the requirement for employers. One proposal is a "safe harbor" that would deem 75 percent of work cell phone usage to be for work, and 25 percent to be personal. Under that scenario, employer deductions would be limited accordingly and employees would be taxed on the value of the personal use."

Gotta love it.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/12/irs-considers-taxing-personal-use-work-cell-phones-fringe-benefit/

6/12/2009 4:22:06 PM

Im not sure what to say. You can't stop them.

6/12/2009 4:35:40 PM

Oh, how I loathe the IRS....

6/12/2009 4:37:25 PM

Have any of you ever considered moving to Bermuda?

6/12/2009 4:58:01 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKdGWXTUG4

6/12/2009 5:40:37 PM

So is this 25% in addition to the value of the cell service already taxed? Or are they saying that 25% will be taxed and 75% will not period?

6/12/2009 6:53:02 PM

Quote :

"Have any of you ever considered moving to Bermuda?"

Yes..you tax-whiners..please . The government would like to raise your taxes in peace without all this complaining. If you don't want to help the children..please move (make sure you leave your money here though)

Thank you

-Hope & Change.

6/12/2009 9:23:10 PM

Quote :

"Im not sure what to say. You can't stop them."

you do know that there is no law saying you have to pay taxes AMIRITE???

6/13/2009 3:46:52 AM

Try not paying them though, then come back and tell us how that went.

6/13/2009 10:02:37 AM

I assume a law abiding company is paying taxes on the service they use for their cell phone carrier. Beyond that who the fuck cares if i use my cell phone to call Bubba, my drug dealer, or my boss to tell them i can't make it to work today b.c i'm too hungover from last night at the bar.

90% of people i know with work cell phones also have a personal cell phone b.c the corporation does not want to be paying for your personal calls anyway. I do not get it...?

Quote :

"-Hope & Change."

blow that shit. While we may not be complaining as much about stupid taxes and welfare queens as much; Republican officials give us just as much shit to bitch about. Although you could be like me and support the downfall of our two party system to a multi-party one that can be more relevant to modern America

[Edited on June 14, 2009 at 9:26 PM. Reason : l]

6/14/2009 9:24:11 PM

there is no way this monitorable

6/14/2009 10:12:12 PM

what is the point of replacing one letter with a *?

it's not like you can't tell what that word is

6/14/2009 10:22:49 PM

Quote :

"support the downfall of our two party system to a multi-party one that can be more relevant to modern America"

I'm for that!

6/15/2009 12:11:38 AM

Seems like closing a single corporate income tax loophole would get them the cash they crave much quicker than introducing something like this.

6/15/2009 7:40:24 AM

hahah. This is yet another brilliant tax collection policy that will cost far more to enforce than they could ever hope to gain in revenue.

6/15/2009 9:57:44 AM

Quote :

"what is the point of replacing one letter with a *? it's not like you can't tell what that word is"

B/c this is TSB, not Chit Chat. We don't curse in the title. Same reason curses are bleeped on TV. Not like you don't know what it is then either

6/15/2009 12:11:46 PM

The point here is that personal use of work phones is already taxable. As a result, you either have to keep detailed records of personal use and report that value or you have to ban personal use (which is what most places do). They are trying to figure out a practical way to uphold the law without creating a bookkeeping nightmare. So this proposal means you are more likely to be able to use your work phone for personal use.

6/15/2009 4:20:28 PM

Why does it matter if i my company pays cell phone taxes on me versus paying on my private line. I do not know many people that use solely their work phone for personal use.

6/15/2009 7:05:20 PM

it's not the cell-phone taxes that are being hit here. It's the income-benefit of having the cell-phone that is at issue. Kind of like how McCain wanted to tax health-benefits as income. same deal w/ cell-phones.

6/15/2009 8:37:55 PM