Go ahead. Start making fun now. But I have a new (catching drool) toy to lust over…
It’s the Internal Revenue Code for the iPhone.
Ok, I don’t have an iPhone. I can’t bring myself to use AT&T (it’s a long story). But I do have an iTouch. And I looove it.
My favorite bit of the app is the disclaimer, which begins:
This application is intended for tax professionals and was not created for those not trained in independent tax and legal research.
Umm… nothing for nothing, but what kind of crazy person buys the IRC for the iPhone other than a tax pro?
At any rate, the app retails for $13.99. It works on the iTouch. And I’m buying it now. Really.
(HT Tax Update Blog)
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday!
I am not among the many folks camped out for an iPhone this morning. As tempted as I am by one – and trust me, I am sorely tempted – I can’t bring myself to buy a product that ties me to AT&T. We suffered through a year of AT&T cellular service when the firm first started and I vowed never again. We have happily been T-mobile customers now for going on six years, I think.
(note to Apple: just think how many more you could sell if you hadn’t tethered yourself to a lousy provider!)
At any rate, I am a huge Apple fan – especially when it comes to iTunes. And when my last iPod went missing, my husband couldn’t take the moping anymore and bought me a lovely iTouch (basically, an iPhone without the phone – or a fancy wi-fi ready version of the iPod, depending on which way you look at it). I am completely obsessed.
One of the best features of both the iTouch and the iPhone is the ability to play music via iTunes. This is huge for me. You know how Ellen Degeneres seems to dance her way through her day? This is me. I have been known to sing out loud while listening to iTunes because I forget folks are around and can hear me. And I’m not embarrassed to say that I have some pretty cheesy stuff on my iTouch – at any given day, you can hear a range of music from Reba McEntire to Eminem to Nickelback to the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
I’ve spent a fairly substantial amount of money on iTunes, though to be fair, it’s probably less over the years than I would have spent on CDs. I don’t love every Barry Manilow song, I don’t need an entire Metallica album and I’m not sure that I could bring myself to walk up to a counter and actually purchase an Ashlee Simpson album. But I will buy a single from iTunes.
What’s fairly interesting about my purchases from Apple is while I have purchased a lot music, I have not pay sales tax on those purchases. So far, despite efforts to the contrary, digital music is not taxed by the vendor (yes, yes, yes, there is a separate use tax issue here, but that’s not part of this discussion). And while this feels like “old news”, the subject is making a comeback as online sales of other products come under attack.
All of this brings me to today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question:
Should music and other new media downloaded from the internet be taxed?
Let me know what you think!
Working at Apple just got a little sweeter, it seems.
Apple has announced that it is giving free iPhones to all 18,000 of its employees, at a cost of over $10 million to the company. Each of the models is worth about $600.
Cool, right?
The new phones are set to be distributed to employees at the end of July. Eager employees will no doubt immediately start using their new toys and won’t give it another thought until… January 2008. That’s when they’ll receive their form W-2 which, if Apple does the right thing, will include the price of the iPhone as compensation.
Oh yeah, no matter how Steve Jobs announces the distribution of iPhone, it’s not a gift. It’s compensation. In almost every situation, a gift from employer to employee – no matter how well meaning – is not considered a gift. While the IRS is content to look away at gifts that are considered de minimis, an iPhone clearly doesn’t fall under that category. It’s the hottest tech item this summer – and it’s not cheap. The IRS will no doubt consider the “gifts” taxable to the employees – which means that the cost to Apple also just went up a little bit (Apple has to cough up the FICA match). While Apple has not yet announced its position on distributing iPhones to its independent contractors, I think that the tax considerations (not to mention the availability of the iPhone for paying customers) may help them along with that decision.
Just as Microsoft recently learned that there’s no such thing as a free lunch with the launch of Vista/Office promo, Apple will no doubt learn its lesson. A good rule of thumb: An apple (or fruit basket) to an employee? Free. An Apple iPhone? Not so much.
(Like this story? You can digg it here.)
