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Company Car and Cell Phone in CS calculaiton

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Will my company car reimbursements (mileage for gas, car depreciation, insurance) and my company cell phone be included as income for purposes of child support? Do any other states reclassify business expenses (as defined by the IRS) into personal expenses and then add them to personal income for CS calculations?

This latest decision by the Ohio Supreme Court seems very strange. They apparently ruled that the entire company car value and cell phone benefit can be added to income and used to calculate child support. Maybe they think American companies are out to hurt children children by hiding their employees' personal income as business expenses? Do they think the IRS doesn't know the difference? What about cars not owned but reimbursed to under the specific IRS rules for non-taxable business expense reimbursements. Only Justice O'Donnell logically said let's follow the IRS and our own Ohio Taxing Authority rules. This seems unbelievable.

I own my car used for both business and pleasure. I then get reimbursed on the car for the business usage as state above; on the phone, I also get email 'dinged' all day long and use my phone primarily for business use with personal use maybe 20%. Will these companies business expenses be included in my income now?

Thanks for your help. Here's the article from Columbus Dispatch:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/10/16/Supreme-Court-rules-on-child-custody-case.html
 


TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Will my company car reimbursements (mileage for gas, car depreciation, insurance) and my company cell phone be included as income for purposes of child support? Do any other states reclassify business expenses (as defined by the IRS) into personal expenses and then add them to personal income for CS calculations?

This latest decision by the Ohio Supreme Court seems very strange. They apparently ruled that the entire company car value and cell phone benefit can be added to income and used to calculate child support. Maybe they think American companies are out to hurt children children by hiding their employees' personal income as business expenses? Do they think the IRS doesn't know the difference? What about cars not owned but reimbursed to under the specific IRS rules for non-taxable business expense reimbursements. Only Justice O'Donnell logically said let's follow the IRS and our own Ohio Taxing Authority rules. This seems unbelievable.

I own my car used for both business and pleasure. I then get reimbursed on the car for the business usage as state above; on the phone, I also get email 'dinged' all day long and use my phone primarily for business use with personal use maybe 20%. Will these companies business expenses be included in my income now?

Thanks for your help. Here's the article from Columbus Dispatch:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/10/16/Supreme-Court-rules-on-child-custody-case.html
Please keep all your questions in one thread. :cool:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/child-support-98/ohio-cs-admin-review-dual-custody-50-50-shared-parenting-600923.html
 

CJane

Senior Member
I think the justices were fairly clear.

“The record indicates that Morrow did not have a car, car insurance, or phone, other than the car, car insurance, and phone provided to him by his employer,” wrote Justice Paul E. Pfeifer in the majority opinion. “If his employer did not provide a car, Morrow would have had to purchase or lease one on his own, using his own funds,” The person receiving the benefit “effectively has a higher income. We reach the same conclusion with respect to the car insurance and cell phone.”
So, if you fall into the category of someone who is provided with these things as part of your employment, and without them you'd have to use your own funds to purchase them, then yes they can be counted as income.

I'm not sure where your confusion lies.
 
I think the justices were fairly clear.



So, if you fall into the category of someone who is provided with these things as part of your employment, and without them you'd have to use your own funds to purchase them, then yes they can be counted as income.

I'm not sure where your confusion lies.
I own my car, the company did not provide it. Guess it's how you define company car. They reimbursement me for it's business use. Will I be effected? How about the company cell phone? Why is that now included? Thanks.
 

CJane

Senior Member
I own my car, the company did not provide it. Guess it's how you define company car. They reimbursement me for it's business use. Will I be effected? How about the company cell phone? Why is that now included? Thanks.
It has nothing to do with how I define a company car. If the company PROVIDES the car, or PROVIDES the cell phone, it's a perk that effectively increases your income. It's pretty easy to understand, really.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
I own my car, the company did not provide it. Guess it's how you define company car. They reimbursement me for it's business use. Will I be effected? How about the company cell phone? Why is that now included? Thanks.
Reimbursement is income for both car and cell phone.
 
Reimbursement is income for both car and cell phone.
Hello Ohiogal. Thanks for responding. So the harder I must work out of town, on the road (usually out of state) to feed my family, the higher the business expense reimbursement. That means I will now be paying more in CS even though I didn't get any more real salary?

Still don't get the cell phone, can you explain it. I use it 80% (guessing of course) for business use, the 20% personal is most often to my kids or their mom to coordinate activities. Don't we all benefit? Why charge 100% of that benefit to me? Am I just special?

thanks again :eek:
 
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It has nothing to do with how I define a company car. If the company PROVIDES the car, or PROVIDES the cell phone, it's a perk that effectively increases your income. It's pretty easy to understand, really.
Your pretty easy to understand answer seems at odds with Ohiogal who says that reimbursements also count as income. Can you clarify? Thanks.
 

CJane

Senior Member
Your pretty easy to understand answer seems at odds with Ohiogal who says that reimbursements also count as income. Can you clarify? Thanks.
Well, my "pretty easy to understand" answer was in response to the very specific article you posted, and what the justices were quoted as saying.

I would assume that OhioGal's response was more all encompassing, and included her knowledge of Ohio law - specifically as it relates to child support.

Since you clearly didn't bother to look at the actual statute, I went and looked it up.

(13) "Self-generated income" means gross receipts received by a parent from self-employment, proprietorship of a business, joint ownership of a partnership or closely held corporation, and rents minus ordinary and necessary expenses incurred by the parent in generating the gross receipts. "Self-generated income" includes expense reimbursements or in-kind payments received by a parent from self-employment, the operation of a business, or rents, including company cars, free housing, reimbursed meals, and other benefits, if the reimbursements are significant and reduce personal living expenses.
 
Well, my "pretty easy to understand" answer was in response to the very specific article you posted, and what the justices were quoted as saying.

I would assume that OhioGal's response was more all encompassing, and included her knowledge of Ohio law - specifically as it relates to child support.

Since you clearly didn't bother to look at the actual statute, I went and looked it up.
Thanks for looking that up, I didn't realize that I was expected to do that before asking a question, but I really appreciate your leg work. So since I work for an employer (I'm not self-employed) and those other categories do not apply; looks like I'm in the clear and will not be charged for the reimbursement, maybe the cell phone though. Thanks again for helping.
 
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