Agency employee or contractor

NedRN · Jul 31, 2012

You are talking about W-4 pay versus 1099 pay I believe. Not contracting directly with the hospital.

Most travel companies will not pay travelers on a 1099 basis. You only have that option with perhaps two dozen smaller agencies - if you message me, I can send you a list.

So either way, I'm going to guess that far less than 1 percent of travelers are paid via a 1099. It is more work to be sure, quarterly payments to the IRS and perhaps various states as well. Benefits will depend on what kind of business entity you choose. The default (do nothing) is sole proprietor which just entails adding a Schedule C to your 1040. Otherwise you can choose between a regular corporation (a "C" corp), a so-called pass-through corporation (an "S" corp), or the increasingly popular LLC (Limited Liability Company), popular because of less internal paperwork required - like annual meeting minutes.

I made the rather unusual choice of a C corp (for the benefits), but I also cut out the agency middleman completely and contract directly with the hospital. I still have to make a payroll for myself as a non-passthrough corp, but I only pay myself once a year (other than expense money) so it is not too hard. And I actually enjoy doing tax returns!

For most travelers, it is just to much trouble to get 1099 pay, and even harder to figure out the whole acting as an agency thing (not really so hard but it does take a certain inclination).

nurseCA12 · Jul 31, 2012

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I was talking about getting paid from the agency but as a contractor not an employee of the agency. Cutting out the middleman would be an option as well but would mean a lot more work.

Can you message me the list that you have, I can't seem to figure out how to send a message!

Thanks.

NedRN · Jul 31, 2012

Sent you a PM. It is actually a link to the list, but AN doesn't like outside links posted.

nurseCA12 · Aug 1, 2012

Thank you!