President Obama wants to repeal a 1989 law that treats employer-provided cell phones as taxable fringe benefits:
President Barack Obama will urge Congress to repeal a law requiring workers to pay taxes when they use employer-provided cell phones and similar equipment for personal reasons, a Treasury Department official said.
The budget proposal would end the need for employers to keep detailed records when company-owned cell phones, BlackBerrys or similar telecommunications equipment are used for both business reasons and the personal convenience of employees, the official said. Current law, which is rarely enforced, requires employees to pay income tax on the value of any personal use. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
Of course, the change is a boon for cell phone service providers:
The reprieve, to be included in Obama’s budget outline Feb. 1, is a victory for companies such as Little Rock, Arkansas- based Alltel Corp., Dallas-based AT&T Inc., Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint Nextel Corp., and New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., which have complained the 20-year-old requirement was outdated.
Did corporate lobbyists influence the President’s decision? Of course they did. But just because a corporation is doing the lobbying, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Unless, that is, it’s a Republican President who is being lobbied.
Paul Caron has been tracking the story.
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