Chamber Fights for Business Phone Deductions

The U.S. Chamber is strongly supporting legislation that would make it easier for businesses to write off the cost of cell phones, BlackBerries, and similar telecommunication devices provided to employees.

In a July 10 letter to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chamber and 33 business groups called for the speedy passage of the MOBILE Cell Phone Act of 2008.

The bill would allow employers to treat cell phones like other business property for income and deduction purposes by waiving these items from the IRS’s listed property rules. Under the current tax code, cell phones are treated as “listed property,” which are subject to special, more burdensome record-keeping requirements than other business property. For example, to take a deduction on a phone and its related expenses, an employer must keep records to “substantiate” the amount, time, and place of cell phone use and prove its business purpose.

“Meeting these strict substantiation requirements burdens the business use of cell phones, dampens the use of advanced technology, and is impractical given their frequent use in a fast-paced global work environment,” the letter states.

Learn more about what the Chamber is doing on telecom.

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