Public Service Announcement for Small Business Owners

[dan_bgblue]

FBN’s Liz MacDonald reports that the IRS is cracking down on businesses that it says are misclassifying on-the-job employees as independent contractors. According to the IRS, it’s looking to stop businesses from classifying workers as contractors rather than on-the-job employees to skirt minimum wage laws and avoid paying payroll taxes, Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance.

[CitizenBBN]

The state of Kentucky has been doing the same thing from what I've heard. Can't have people finding work or small businesses surviving out there. I know it's "the law", but if we really wanted to help the country we'd use that trillion in useless spending on eliminating payroll taxes, esp. for small business.

As for the minimum wage, maybe people avoiding that law is a clue as to its economic effect?

[dan_bgblue]

As for the minimum wage, maybe people avoiding that law is a clue as to its economic effect?

Money grubbing business owners

[CitizenBBN]

As for the minimum wage, maybe people avoiding that law is a clue as to its economic effect?

Money grubbing business owners

Just yesterday I saw a gang of them wandering the downtown streets of Lexington, beating people on the heads and abducting them and forcing them to work for below minimum wage. Bastards.

[Darrell KSR]

It's been a point of emphasis for years.

Arround 1989 I had my first employee/independent contractor controversy work for a client who was being assessed with $600k for classifying all of its truck drivers as independent contractors, rather than employees. Drivers can be either one, depending on many factors (do they own their own rig, are they free to drive for different companies, etc.) IRS used to have 20 common law factors they looked at to make that determination.

First day I met the client the auditor had already completed his audit report, and I walked into the client's small business office, and turned around to shut the door. I looked up, and saw something on the wall, and immediately asked the client if that was there when the auditor was there?

I have told this story a dozen times or more and when I teach a business law class usually stop at this point to see if anybody can guess what "that" was.

It was an "Employee of the Month" plaque, complete with a list of truck driver after truck driver on it. You know, the same ones we were classifying as independent contractors.

I suggested they invest $20 to redo the plaque and call it "driver of the month." While something like that is not dispositive, it certainly didn't point the IRS in the direction we wanted them to head.

Sent using Forum Runner. All typos excused.

[jazyd]

When I was still an independent sales rep this came up often. The factories were always trying to demand things from us they couldn't legally do. But they would hold the contract over your head with threats of firing the agency

One company kept telling us they would not accept credit apps or orders that were not written on their forms in stead of our agency forms. Finally Roger had enough of it and told them if he wrote it on toilet paper they better accept it or he would turn them over to the IRS. Guess who won. I had the same problem with an agency I worked for and finally sent him that 20 item list Darrell mentioned.

Because of those type problems many of the agencies started making their sales reps employees instead of independents, which also meant they could control the income