CTIA Continues to Call for Repeal of Outdated IRS Rule on Listed Property

September 4th was the deadline to file comments at the IRS on the listed property rule for employer-provided cell phones. Prior to the filing deadline, CTIA submitted comments  and issued a statement urging Congress to pass the MOBILE Act (S. 144/H.R. 690) that would remove mobile devices from the listed property rule and accomplish Treasury Secretary Geithner’s and IRS Commissioner Shulman’s goal of repealing this outdated and poorly understood tax rule. 

Listed property was first implemented two decades ago when cell phones were considered luxury items. Despite the fact that more than 270 million Americans use wireless devices today, employees are still required to maintain logs detailing cell phone calls placed for business versus personal use. This is a classic example of how the law has failed to keep up with the rapidly changing wireless marketplace. 

The good news is that the MOBILE Act has broad, bi-partisan support, and with the support of both Secretary Geithner and Commissioner Shulman, we’re hopeful that Congress will act on it this year. 

Here are a few of the stories that have been published on listed property recently:

• 9/6 - The Hill - IRS asked to repeal cell phone tax
• 9/2 - PC World - Group Asks IRS to Repeal Tax of Personal Mobile-Phone Use  
• 9/2 - Wireless Week - CTIA Urges Action on Old IRS Rule
• 9/1 - The Wall Street Journal - Wireless Group Wants Repeal of Cell Phone Tax Law  
• 9/1 – FierceWireless -  CTIA Pushes for Repeal of Tax on Work-Issued Cell Phones  
• 9/1 – eWeek - CTIA Pushes for Repeal of Enterprise Cell Phone Tax