OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Taxpayer Assistance Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

Date: April 14, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication

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I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I would like to thank the Ways and Means chairman for making my commonsense cell phone fix the cornerstone of the Taxpayer Assistance Act of 2010. Members may recognize this provision as a bipartisan bill, H.R. 690, the Mobile Cell Phone Act, which I have introduced with Mr. Pomeroy.

As we all know, in today's 24/7 economy, cell phones and BlackBerrys have become the modern version of landline office phones. And yet, unlike landline phones, workers and their employees are supposed to keep detailed call logs or else they will face the wrath of the IRS. This means a business can lose its deduction while a worker can face taxes for making personal calls. This is just wrong. We don't want to nickel and dime workers for making the occasional personal call from a desk, and we shouldn't for cell phones either.

Times have changed since Congress passed this rule in 1989 when people carried phones in a suitcase. I used to carry one myself when I was in the Air Force, and I could hardly carry it because it was so heavy. They were used by the likes of high-flying corporate executives and cost a small fortune.

Even the IRS gets it that times have changed. In fact, last June, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in his statement, ``The passage of time, advances in technology, and the nature of communication in the modern workplace have rendered this law obsolete.'' There you have it; even the IRS Commissioner believes that this law needs to be changed.

This provision will especially help our Nation's small businesses. According to an NFIB poll, nearly four out of five small businesses use a cell phone for work. Now more than ever we need to stop penalizing our job-creating entrepreneurs with this ridiculous tax rule. Startup small businesses and their employees have better things to do with their time than track each and every call they make, and they shouldn't have to spend time worrying that the IRS will hit them with taxes for personal calls. Even the administration agrees, as they included this proposal in their budget.

So how about let's do away with this outdated, obsolete tax rule once and for all.

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