No more need to substantiate business cell phone use

Good news on the tax front: Employers no longer are required to follow strict documentation requirements to verify the business use of employer-provided mobile phones, under a federal law signed by President Obama on September 27, 2010. Also, if an employer provides a mobile phone for business use, the fair market value of an employee’s personal use of the phone no longer has to be included in the employee’s gross income. The changes take effect for tax years beginning after December 31, 2009 (Section 2043 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, H.R. 5297, P.L. 111-240).