Gimme a dollar, I’m trying to get something to eat
June 11, 2009
The IRS is weighing a proposal to deem one-quarter of employees’ use of work cellphones as personal use and therefore subject to tax as a fringe benefit.
The proposal is one of several options the IRS put forward this week on the tax treatment of employer-provided cellphones. Current law already requires that the value of those cellphone services be included in a worker’s gross income, unless the employee keeps detailed records showing that the cellphone is used for work only.
Coming up next, taxing you for the water you used in the workplace urinal on the assumption that at least 15% of the piss you flushed originated in water you drank on your own time.
Paul :
Date: June 15, 2009
Will the IRS also allow the reverse?
If I take a business call on my home phone because we’re backed up at work and someone needs to get in touch with me at night or on the weekend, will I be permitted to claim the cost of that call as a business expense? Will I also be able to deduct a percentage of that month’s electric bill (because my phone is cordless and therefore requires electricity) and my mortgage payment (I am, after all, using my personal residence to conduct company business while I’m on the phone)?
Yes, indeed. Elections do have consequences. Under Mr. Obama, your taxes will go up and up and up, and they will never come back down.