The IRS Phones Home

[Commentary] The Internal Revenue Service is contemplating a new tax on the use of business cellphones. The IRS believes that some percentage of the costs incurred by employees using company-provided wireless devices should count as a "fringe benefit" and thus be subject to taxation. Since workers inevitably end up taking personal calls or emails, the thinking goes, it's only fair that they pay for the privilege. The IRS isn't proposing a new rule per se, merely planning to strictly enforce a 1989 law requiring workers using company phones for personal use to include the value of those calls as income. The political class may come to regret stepping into this minefield, however, and not only because this is precisely the sort of common non-sense that incites tax revolts. It's one thing if the next Tom Daschle forgets to pay taxes on his company chauffeur. But it'll be quite another if the next nominee goes down for taking too many personal calls without giving the government its due.