Obama backs repeal of tax on personal cell phones

The Obama administration on Tuesday said it will back repealing a hard-to-enforce tax on personal use of work cell phones, appeasing the business community, phone makers and users. A 1989 law requires companies seeking to deduct worker cellphones as an expense to track personal use with painstaking documentation of minutes. The government, in a notice last week sought public comment on making compliance easier, but now says the law should be scrapped altogether. Treasury "Secretary (Timothy) Geithner and I ask that Congress act to make clear that there will be no tax consequence to employers or employees for personal use of work-related devices such as cellphones provided by employers," Douglas Shulman, the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, said in a statement.