CTIA–The Wireless Association® Files Comments to IRS on Listed Property

Concurs with Treasury Secretary Geithner and IRS Commissioner Shulman to Repeal Arcane Tax Rule on Employer-Provided Cell Phones

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, CTIA-The Wireless Association® President and CEO Steve Largent issued the following statement after the organization filed comments at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the listed property rule for employer-provided cell phones.  When cell phones were added to the listed property rule in 1989, mobile phone use was uncommon and cell phones were considered luxury items.  Despite the near ubiquity of mobile devices today, employees are still required to maintain logs detailing their business use on a mobile device.  Specifically, individuals are expected to record: (1) the amount of such expense or other item, (2) the time and place of the use of the property, (3) the business purpose of the expense, and (4) the business relationship to the taxpayer of the persons using the property.  Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John Ensign (R-NV) and Representatives Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) have sponsored the MOBILE Act (S. 144/H.R. 690) to address this matter.

“We agree with Secretary Geithner’s and Commissioner Shulman’s June 16 statement that said it must be ‘clear that there will be no tax consequence to employers or employees for personal use of work-related devices such as cell phones provided by employers.’

“Unfortunately, the alternatives proposed by the IRS are either incomplete or inadequate solutions that would continue to subject employees and employers to onerous call log requirements.

“Instead, CTIA and the wireless industry support the MOBILE Act, which would remove mobile devices from the listed property rule and accomplish Secretary Geithner’s and Commissioner Shulman’s goal of repealing a burdensome and poorly understood tax rule.  There is broad, bi-partisan support for this legislation and we urge the Congress to act on it this year.”

###

CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry,
representing carriers, manufacturers and wireless Internet providers.
www.ctia.org