Are there any references on how to allocate cell phone expense between personal and business use?
- posted
5 years ago
Are there any references on how to allocate cell phone expense between personal and business use?
The only way I am aware of that meets the IRS strict substantiation rules is to keep a log of your use on a daily basis: Date, purpose, etc. This used to be easy in the "old" days of vanilla cellphones as you could use the your actual call log. Today's smartphones are used for more than making a phone call. So, without a log on how you use the phone, ou get no deduction as there is no reasonable way to make the determination. I have a few associates that own a smartphone and an LG flip cellphone that they only use for business calls and business text messaging. They deduct the full cost of the LG. One of the upsides (so they tell me) of the flip phone, is that the call quality is better than the smartphone. I assume that is the case because the ear piece speaker is so much larger in the flip phone.
Full disclosure: they both use AT&T for their cell service.
I do the same thing - two phones, with Verizon. I used a flip phone for business for a long time, but it became difficult because a lot of people like to text. So I found a dumb phone with a full keyboard - they're apparently hard to find these days, but it's possible.
Getting a dedicated phone is probably the best way to go. In my case, the phone is used by a Uber Driver and has to be on about 7 hrs a day so that the Uber computer can determine the location of the car. Even if no calls are made or received, the phone has to be on.
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