In the US, if you're not marketing and admining, you're not a contractor, so you can't be 1099. The things I listed are all necessary to pass the IRS "20 question" test to determine whether you're a contractor. You do have to look and act like a business to be a contractor. That is, you do need to have an office, and perform marketing and admin (spend money on yellow page advertising locally, at least, and have a distinct office for your work). I can't see how you can simply dismiss those.

Unless you're kidding yourself, and you really should be on W-2 temp, instead of 1099 contract. In which case, you probably want to get a lawyer. {grin}

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

"The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if (the person for whom the services are performed) has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, and not what will be done and how it will be done or method of accomplishing the result."

The others are generalizations. "Independent contractors often advertise... " - I do maintain a home office, and I perform my own admin. However, tax preparation has always been something I've handled before.
--------------
It's sad that a family can be torn apart by such a such a simple thing as a pack of wild dogs

ok, I guess then it comes down to each country's defintion of a contractor. There's a lot less bureaucracy over here. I'm sure there may be subtle differences between a temp and a contractor in our laws, but they don't seem to impact us on a day-to-day basis. A contractor is someone who simply picks up a fixed term contact for work

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.

--
brian d foy <bdfoy@cpan.org>

Well, I think we're digressing from the original conversation, but again, I think it depends how much you take on your own business.

I have no employees and my office is a home office. I know that there is no employer chipping in for Social Security/Medicare taxes. There is no employer contribution for federal taxes (at least, none that I know of, and if there is, I'm owed some money! :) ) - they contribute half of the 15.3% (combined) for SS and Medicare.

I agree about office space. However, when your office is in your home, it's to your benefit. My home office only covers 6% of my home, so it's not significant, but every little bit helps. I do pay for all my own supplies, and, yes, I agree, you're not saving a lot. But there's also car expenses (whether it be actual or mileage based). What I'm saying is that the only real "extra" my employer provided was health insurance and retirement benefits. While those aren't paltry, I can replace the health insurance for ~$100/mo and do my own post-tax retirement.

You have to execute the job in the most prudent manner, and if that means on their hours and with their equipment, then so be it. They should only control the outcome, not the means by which it happens. You don't have to have a yellow pages ad, dedicated business automobile or a separate office. You do have to tell the contractee what you will make, but not be controlled on how you make it. I think that's the whole problem - it's kind of vague.
--------------
It's sad that a family can be torn apart by such a such a simple thing as a pack of wild dogs

Well, I think that there's a distinction between contracting and running a small business. I've been contracting sinve 1998 until this year. Our country has free healthcare, but I do supplement it with insurance (about $100/mo). As for retirment benefits, I guess it's a cultural thing. I consider that a personal expense like food or rent, because it's rarely offered as a benefit from an employer in New Zealand. My administration costs are small, I enter my time in my accounting package each day (takes 5 minutes), and it generates my invoice automatically each month. I spend another half an hour a month entering expenses. I've never made any thing like $100/hr, but my declared income has always tended to follow my rough formula. This includes things like 4 weeks holiday per year, plus sick time.. I guess I do my training in my own time (outside of my 40 hour week) so you could argue that I work more than a standard day

However, as part of my new years' resolution, I've switched from contracting to running my own business in January - and all the additional costs like marketing, booking ratio etc have come into play. I'd make much more as a contractor, but I enjoy this more