IRS clarifies: Work cellphones are not taxable perks

The Internal Revenue Service issued a notice Wednesday clarifying that employer-provided cellphones are not taxable perks.

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 removed cellphones from the definition of "listed property," a category that normally requires additional record keeping by taxpayers.

 The IRS notice clarified that as a result of the law, when a business provides an employee with a cellphone to use for work, that phone is generally not a taxable benefit.

The IRS also sent a memo to its examiners to explain the rule change.

CTIA, a wireless trade association, praised the move. 

"I’m glad the IRS has finally had the last word on repeal of a rule that might have made sense in the late 1980s, but made no sense at all in today’s mobile, always-connected world," wrote CTIA President Steve Largent in a blog post.

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