What impact does the new legislation enacted in September 2010 have on UCSD’s cell phone policy?
On September 27, the Small Business Jobs Act, which includes the provision to remove cell phones from the listed property category, was signed by President Obama. This change means that some level of personal use of an employer-provided cell phone will now be permissible. It is expected that the IRS will respond to this change by publishing some minimal substantiation rules for employer-provided cell phones and personal digital assistants. In the meantime, UCSD’s current policy published in Blink as well as UC’s Business and Finance Bulletin G-46 will remain in effect. This is because that in the fall of 2009, the IRS approved a temporary suspension of UC’s imputed income and cash allowance cell phone policy that was in place June – September 2009. The suspension had been approved until an official update was issued that would remove cell phones from the IRS listed property rules. Current UCSD policy is based on the temporary suspension of the more rigid rules.
