Can I Deduct the Expense of My Cell Phone Bill on My Taxes?

Cell phone bills can sometimes be deducted from tax payments.

Although taxes, like death, are a certainty, the Internal Revenue Services allows tax payers to deduct a number of expenses for their payments. These include most expenses related to running a business.

Features

According to the IRS, a business expense must be "ordinary and necessary," meaning it is critical to the business and it a common expense in that line of work. If a cell phone is used to operate a business, then the purchase of the cell phone and the monthly cell phone bill can be deducted from tax payments.

Considerations

If a cell phone is used for business and personal reasons, the cell phone expense can be deducted proportionate to the percentage of time it is used for business. For example, if a cell phone is used for business half the time, a person can deduct 50 percent of its cost from his taxes.

Expert Insight

Donna LeValley, a tax attorney and editor of the J.K. Lasser annual tax guide, told Entrepeneur.com that cell phone deductions come under intense scrutiny from the IRS. People should keep good records of their calls--if possible, itemized lists--to prove that a number of calls are indeed for business.

References

• Tax Form Processing LLC: What Expenses Can My Business Deduct?
• Kiplinger: The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions
• Yahoo: Entrepeneur: Top Tax Write-Offs That Could Get You in Trouble With the IRS
• IRS: Business Expenses