Can I deduct my cell phone?

By Jason Watson

Yes, and you have always been able to. However, the Small Business Act of 2010 removed cell phones as “listed property” and therefore the recordkeeping requirements have eased. Previously, each individual phone call needed to be logged, and the essential business use needed to be described. This is gone for all 2010 tax returns and beyond.

You still need to prove how much of your cell phone expenses were personal, and how much were associated with your job or business. This can be a challenge. Our contention is that you use a cell phone to connect with your supervisors, crew scheduling, dispatchers, maintenance, MODs, other crewmembers, etc. We use a duty day percentage from your flight schedule and apply it to your cell phone charges.

If you own a business and / or have rental properties, we will allocate your cell phone and internet charges accordingly between the parts (personal, flight crew, small biz and rentals).

We also invite you to read our Cell Phones, Tablets and Internet Tax Article at wcginc.com/CellPhone.pdf.