To provide employees with a computer tax-free, the device must be plausibly used for 90% or more business use. For a (mobile) phone (communication device), 10% business use is already sufficient. Obviously, the burden of proof for (mobile) communication devices is much easier to meet than that for computers.
The Tax Court holds that an Ipad (or other tablet) is a computer, at least if the diagonal of the device's screen is 7 inches (17.78 cm) or larger. Rechtbank Haarlem agreed at the end of 2012, but Hof Amsterdam has now ruled that, in its view, an Ipad is indeed a communication device.
The Tax Court will most likely not stop there and will ask the Supreme Court for an opinion. This will then involve a rearguard action, by the way. After all, if the necessity criterion contained in the Bill Tax Plan 2015 under the work-related costs scheme (WKR) is introduced, the distinction between computers and communication tools will no longer be relevant. See our fact sheet on the work-related costs scheme for this. The intention is to apply the necessity criterion in the WKR from 1 January 2015.
The Court considered that the functions telephony, text messaging, e-mail and internet use on the iPad fall within the scope of communication in any event. The circumstance that it is possible to enter longer texts on the Ipad by means of the keyboard appearing on the touchscreen does not detract from this, because entering such texts on the Ipad is considerably more difficult than on a desktop PC or laptop. No doubt to be continued in the Supreme Court.