Blog

Get Your Contractor or Employee Classification Right! Tax challenges can be VERY expensive.

Denise Johnston
April 15, 2021

As a small business owner, you may face the issue of whether to classify workers as employees or as independent contractors.

Classifying your workers as independent contractors generally saves you money. That’s because you avoid paying employment taxes and benefits on their behalf.

If the IRS determines that you misclassified your employees as contractors, you could end up paying all of the employment taxes and benefits that would have been paid over the years. Depending on the size of your workforce, the cost to your business could be substantial.

In determining whether the person providing a service is an employee or an independent contractor, all information that provides evidence of the degree of control and independence must be considered. There are three primary categories of control and independence that the IRS considers when determining if a worker is a contractor or an employee:

Behavioral. Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job? If yes, the worker is an employee.
Financial. Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? This includes things like how the worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed and whether the employer provides tools and supplies. If yes, the worker is an employee.
Type of relationship. Are there written contracts or employee-type benefits? If contracts are involved, the worker may be a contractor. If benefits such as a pension plan, insurance and vacation pay are made available, the worker most likely is an employee.

Deciding whether a worker is a contractor or employee can get complicated. And remember that there are significant financial consequences for incorrectly classifying a worker. Please call if you have a question about how to classify one or more of your employees.

No Professional Advice, Client Relationship, or Reliance on Information

Please note that any information or content on our Website, or any forms or tools on our Website which allow you to submit information or make calculations, and your use thereof, are not intended to provide any kind of professional advice, consultation or service, including but not limited to, legal, accounting, tax, or business advice. Nor does any such information, content, forms, or tools, or your use thereof or reliance thereon, create or constitute an attorney/client, accountant/client, or consultant/client relationship. You should therefore not use our Website or reliance on any information, content, forms, or tools on our Website as a substitute for any kind of professional advice. Rather, you should consult with a licensed professional, including one employed by our Company, for any accounting or tax questions you may have. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party to the extent you treat or consider any information, content, forms, or tools on our Website as constituting any kind of professional advice. The information and content, including but not limited to forms and tools, presented on or made available through our Website are made available solely for general information purposes. We, therefore, do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any such information, content, forms, or tools, and any reliance you place on the same is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to our Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its content.

Our Website provides illustrative lists of services that we provide. Nothing contained on our Website shall be construed as an offer or guarantee to provide any particular services to you, nor shall anything on our Website be construed as a direct solicitation for employment by any persons, companies, or organizations. Prior results we have obtained for others do not guarantee a similar outcome.