Tax breaks? Surely you jest. In the US, an independent contractor has to pay the employer contribution of the federal, state, and sometimes city taxes. As an independent contractor, you don't get the employer to chip in on any benefits. You can't just compare the take home pays: you have to figure in everything else an employer provides that doesn't show up on your check stub.

Office space costs money is some places, and is significant. I'm not sure where you live, but it certainly figures into my budget in Chicago. Materials are significant too: I have to buy my own computers, printers, paper, and everything else. I pay for my phone, the lights I turn on, the electricity my monitors turn into heat, and everything else.

Some people are quick to point out that a lot of these expenses are deductible, but you're only saving cents on the dollar. A dollar of deductible expenses does not save you a dollar of tax money.

Many people don't realize what they are spending so they can be a contractor. If the employer supplies you space and equipment and you only work for them and work the same hours everyone else does, you're an employee by another name--you don't pass the IRS's test for independence.