Employer Provided Cell Phones
From now on no part of the use of an employer provided cell phone will be treated as taxable income to the employee so long as it is provided primarily for business reasons. Instead, the business use of the cell phone will be considered a working condition fringe benefit or, a benefit where, if the employee were to pay for such property or services, such payment would be allowable as a deduction. In addition, personal use of the employer-provided phone will be considered a de minimus fringe benefit or a benefit in which the value of the property or service is so small as to make accounting for it unreasonable or administratively impracticable. The new rule applies to any use of an employer-provided cell phone occurring after December 31, 2009.