Obama Wants Cell Phone Tax Repealed

Thu, 18/06/2009 - 3:26pm — CellAdmin

The Obama administration today asked Congress to repeal a hard-to-enforce tax on the personal use of work cell phones, appeasing the business community, phone makers and users.

A 1989 law requires personal use of a company's cell phone to be taxed as fringe benefits -- requiring painstaking documentation of personal use minutes.

With the increase of texting, emailing and browsing the Internet -- sometimes for work, sometimes for personal use -- the cell phone tax can be a pain for workers.

The government now says the law should be scrapped altogether.

"The passage of time, advances in technology and the nature of communication in the modern workplace have rendered this law obsolete," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

"In 1989, cell phones were considered a luxury item that were actually referred to as car phones," said John Walls, vice president of CTIA, a wireless trade group. "Now, we have unlimited calling on our cell phones. We have free nights and weekends. The company is not even paying for that. Why should I get taxed for that?"

The Chamber of Commerce and cell phone trade groups wrote key lawmakers earlier this month, arguing for repeal.

Source: (www.mobiledia.com)