IRS Taxes Personal Calls On Work Cell Phones

Almost everyone has a cell phone these days. But if you're among the people who make personal calls on a company mobile phone, the Internal Revenue Service may want to talk with you.

As previously mentioned – and quoted here – in the LA Times, the IRS puts cell phones in the listed property category — right along with company-issued motor vehicles and use of the corporate plane. And they consider little perks like cell phone calls from your work BlackBerry to be taxable as an extension of your compensation package. So either you or your employer is supposed to pay up.

The law for taxing cell phones was written 20 years ago, when the wireless industry was in its infancy and mobile phones were about the size and weight of a brick. Back in the day, if you wanted one of those big Motorolas with the 2-foot antenna (visualize Michael Douglas on the beach in the 1987 movie Wall Street), you — or more likely, your company — would have shelled out about $4,000. So of course, they were reserved for top-level executives.

Fast-forward 20 years, and now everybody has cell phones. They're smaller, lighter and faster. Instead of just calling on them, you can watch the news, listen to music and scan your e-mail. The CEO, the IT guy and the facilities manager each have one. Doctors and reporters would be lost without them. And how else would that real estate agent know whether you've blown her off or you're stuck — again — on the freeway en route to meeting her?