Cell Phone Deduction

The IRS says that,  providing cell phones to employees can be considered a tax-free fringe benefit.  Provided that it’s used for business.  Business reasons can be for:

• Need to contact the employee at all times for work-related emergencies,
• Requirement that the employee be available to speak with clients at times when the employee is away from the office, and
• Need to speak with clients located in other time zones at times outside the employee’s normal workday.

Personal use of an employer-provided cell phone, provided primarily for noncompensatory business reasons, is excludable from an employee’s income as a de minimis fringe benefit.