Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service had a moment of clarity Tuesday and backed off from its plan to crack down on personal use of office cellphones -- sort of. Just last week, the agency stirred up a hornets' nest of bad publicity by announcing it would ramp up enforcement of a long-standing -- and largely ignored -- federal law requiring that personal calls made on company cellphones be taxed as income.

Mark Ernst, who left the top job at tax preparer H&R Block Inc. after the company suffered more than $1 billion in losses tied to subprime lending by its mortgage unit, was named a deputy commissioner at the Internal Revenue Service. Ernst, 50, will oversee operations support, an IRS statement said.

The Internal Revenue Service could make it easier for employers to give workers cellphones by simplifying its record-keeping rules. The agency said this week that it was considering adopting one of three methods that would relieve employers of some record-keeping requirements that have been in place since 1989. Phone companies have been urging the IRS to relax the rules for years, saying they are too burdensome.