PDA/Cell Phone Research

Transcription

1 PDA/Cell Phone Research Institution Allowance Allowance 2 Notes OUS, OIT, WOU PSU, SOU EOU $40 Cell Phone $25 Smart Phone $20 Internet Svc OUS only Smart phone allowance is in addition to cell phone up to lesser 50% of monthly plan. OSU $ / month 85% max OHSU No policy; adhoc Due to budget cuts, practice is discouraged EOU Adhoc; at VP/Dean s discretion UC Santa Barbara They are actively engaged with the IRS on this issue. A new policy was established in May and then by IRS approval, the old policy was reinstated until January University supplies equip & svc UC - Boulder Reimb lesser of.20/min or actual cost (1.99 international); $30/mo data xfer fees University of Indiana $15-150/mo University of Iowa monthly allowance that is based on the approximate proportion of the service that is used for business purposes Univ. of Michigan Elaborate policy but does not include amounts UNC Chapel Hill Phones provided for business use only and owned by Univ See notes below no longer processes reimbursement for non-univ owned equip Policy written in 4/09 Applies to home internet as well Applies to internet and laptops Personal calls must be reimbursed Could not find policy Univ. of Virginia Phones provided for business use only & owned by Univ University of Wa Sent jfollman@u.washington.edu Could not find policy Additional information with chart component details on following pages.

2 OUS Chancellor s Office: A. Business Use of Wireless Communication Device(s) on a Regular Basis: It may be necessary for some employees to use wireless communication devices to conduct Chancellor s Office business on a regular basis. In these cases, the Chancellor s Office will provide a wireless communication allowance for employees who must use his/her personal wireless communication device for work purposes, subject to the following conditions: 1. The Department Head must authorize the employee to use his/her personal wireless communication device for Chancellor s Office business. The employee s supervisor shall sign the authorization form, Wireless Communication Allowance Agreement. The approved form should be submitted to Business Services. A copy of the approved form should be retained by the department and another copy given to the employee. 2. By January 10th of each year the employee is responsible for turning in to Business Services and his/her supervisor the first page of his/her wireless communication bill for the most recent month to document that the employee still has the wireless communication device and the cost is equal to or greater than the allowance being received. 3. The monthly wireless communication allowance is paid as a taxable item through payroll. The wireless communication allowance shall not exceed the employee s monthly plan charges and is provided according to the following allowance amounts: Taxable Allowance(s): Service Maximum Calculation Cell Phone $40 Smart Phone $25 Internet Service Provider $20 Allowance is equal to the lesser of the employee's monthly plan or this amount Allowance is in addition to the cell phone allowance and is equal to the lesser of one half of the employee's monthly plan charge or this amount Allowance is equal to the lesser of one half of the employee's monthly plan charge or this amount Other N/A As approved by the Vice chancellor for F&A Note: The total allowance will be rounded up to the nearest dollar. 4. There are certain positions within the Chancellor s Office that may require a usage plan that exceeds any low cost plan available. These special requirements may be processed on a case-by-case basis through Business Services, upon approval by the employee s supervisor, the Department Head, and the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration.

3 5. Once approved, the allowance shall continue to be paid until the Department Head notifies Business Services that the employee no longer needs a wireless communication device to accomplish his/her job. OSU Policy: Eligibility Faculty and Classified employees with at least 0.5 FTE who have a legitimate business purpose requiring the use of a mobile communication device and who receive appropriate approval through their department and college/unit. Policy In general, Oregon State University (OSU) shall not provide wireless communication devices or internet services to its employees. However, for employees whose supervisors have documented, and whose Dean or Director has reviewed and approved, that they have employment responsibilities which require the use of cellular phone service, smart phone, other mobile communication devices, or an internet service not provided through University Information Services, OSU offers the options described below under Need for Business Use of Communication Device(s) on a Regular Basis." Note: Direct charge of communication device costs to grants, contracts or state-wide public service funds is very limited. Per OMB Circular A-21, communication access costs are considered part of the indirect cost and are not an allowable direct cost on grants and contracts; this includes federal and match state-wide funds. Therefore, any charges to research projects (sponsored, AES-funded, or FRL-funded) or other sponsored activities (sponsored or Extensionfunded) must be approved in advance. A request for an unlike circumstance, such as remote location (field study), or emergency access must be made to and approved in writing by the Assistant Director of Business Affairs, Office of Post Award Administration (OPAA). The Communication Allowance is not one of the options available as a direct charge. Need for Business Use of Communications Device(s) on a Regular Basis: 1. Monthly Communication Allowance. In cases where the supervisor has determined and documented that an employee s job duties require they have a communication device, and their Dean or Director has reviewed and agreed with the determination, the preferred option is for the employee to utilize the monthly Communication Allowance. The Communication Allowance is for use of his/her personal cellular or smart phone and/or internet service for the estimated percentage of monthly business-related expenses. It is the supervisor s responsibility to review the request, documentation, and analysis of percent of business use; to obtain the Dean or Director s approval of such; and then to forward the Communication Allowance Agreement with documentation of cost (service provider invoice) to OSU Network Services - Telecommunications for final review. Telecommunications will forward the approved Communication Allowance Agreement to OSU Payroll for implementation.

4 The allowance amount for the summation of all devices and/or services covered can range from $20 to a maximum of $120 per month/per employee. Because of the availability for personal use, 100 percent coverage cannot be requested. The maximum amount allowed is 85% of the employee cost. Costs in a family plan that are not for the employee must not be considered in the request. The Communication Allowance is not an entitlement of any employee, does not increase the employee s base salary, and is taxable income to the employee. The Communication Allowance must be renewed each calendar year to continue. 2. University-provided smart phone. Smart phones are those that allow secure access to the OSU campus and network folders environment. If an employee s supervisor determines and documents that a particular employee is required to utilize a smart phone, and the Dean or Director approves, the device may be provided through an OSU contractor-provided split-liability program (contractor qualifications apply) when the individual cannot obtain a device on their own. In this situation, the department may purchase a Blackberry, Treo or other available smart-phone device through OSU Telecommunications. The department will then be charged monthly for the data usage (and server access) which will be treated and taxed as a taxable benefit to the employee. In addition, the employee will be personally charged for any cellular telephone call activity by the service provider (not OSU) which could, in turn, be covered under the Communications Allowance. Note: Contact OSU Telecommunications for the Co-Pay Programs End-User Handout for complete details before enrolling in the program. A Smart Phone Purchase/Data Plan Authorization Form must be completed for this option. It is the supervisor s responsibility to review the request for the smart phone device and to document the justification for it. The supervisor must obtain the Dean or Director approval. The approved form must be forwarded to OSU Network Services/Telecommunications for final review and implementation of the smart phone plan. PSU: SOU: UC Santa Barbara Cell-Phone-Policy-Information

5 Here is the link to the reinstated policy: Here is the policy that was suspended: New policy in effect 5/1/09 but will revert back to old policy if laws currently in house and senate are passed. Excerpt from policy below: [ The goals of the new university cell phone policy are to: bring the university into compliance with current IRS requirements regarding the taxability of cell phones, prevent employees paying unnecessary tax on an essential business communication device,

6 minimize the burden and expense of record-keeping and monitoring cell phone use by employees and departments. be easily changed when the tax code is eventually updated. In response to the increasing number of cell phone audits being performed by the IRS, legislation was reintroduced earlier this year in both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 690) and the Senate (S. 144) to modernize the substantiation rules applicable to employer-provided cell phones, BlackBerrys, and similar devices. Although the bills have strong bipartisan support, it is not known when, or if, Congress will take action to pass these measures into law. If the law is changed, the university will revert back to a version of its current policy, which permits incidental personal use a UC-provided cell phone. New Imputed Income/Cash Allowance Policy The new policy involves an imputed income/cash allowance approach that will work as follows: The monthly cost of an employee s cell phone plan, including the cost devices purchased on or after June 1, 2009, will be added to the employee's taxable earnings each month as imputed income subject to withholding. The employee will pay tax on this imputed income. The employee will receive a taxable cash allowance each month to offset the tax on the imputed income. Note that the allowance itself is taxable and it will be adjusted using the IRS gross-up formula to reimburse the employee for the taxes associated with the cash allowance. Impact on Employees Because the university will retain ownership of the phones and PDAs under the new policy, employees will not experience any disruption in their current service levels or be required to take any action with respect to their phone carrier. As provided under the current policy, employees will be permitted to use their university cell phone or PDA for incidental personal calls as long as they do not exceed their plan minutes. Here is an example of how the policy would affect a typical employee: Suppose an employee has a BlackBerry with both voice and data service totaling $90/month including the cost of the phone. The cell phone policy applies only to cell phone service, so the imputed income would be $50/month. This amount will appear on the employee's monthly earnings statement as additional wages subject to withholding for Federal and State income taxes as well as applicable FICA taxes. These taxes will be deducted from the employee s regular monthly earnings. This employee will also receive a cash allowance of $29.55/month to offset the withholding taxes, including FICA, on the imputed income plus the taxes associated with the cash allowance itself. On an annual basis, this represents $600 in imputed income, and $ in tax offset, which would be reflected on the employee's Form W2. The goal of this approach is to achieve a net zero impact on the employee s paycheck, although there may be a slight difference between the amount of taxes withheld based on the imputed income and the cash allowance.]

7 University of Colorado Boulder University of Indiana University of Iowa University of Michigan UNC Chapel Hill University of Virginia 1. Cellular Telephones and Wireless Services Requests for cellular telephone and wireless services must be submitted to ITC Communication Services. Some cellular and wireless services must be obtained under the provisions of Commonwealth of Virginia contracts. Further information on these mandatory contracts is available at: Using a University-funded cellular telephone to place or receive personal (i.e. not job-related) calls is not permitted; however occasional incidental personal use is permitted if such use does not: interfere with the user s productivity or work performance, or with any other employee s productivity or work performance; or cause the University to incur additional cost; or adversely affect the efficient operation of the cellular system; or violate any provision of this policy, any supplemental policy adopted by the agency supplying telephone services, or any other policy, regulation, law or guideline as set forth by local, State or Federal law.