independent contrators tax info

Berta · Jul 13, 2003

Ouch!!! Paying your own taxes as a contractor hurts. Also, bear in mind that you are not putting anything toward your social security fund. (Not that there will be anything there when we get to collect). Contact your local tax dept or call H & R Block if they are in your area.

graysonret · Jul 15, 2003

I agree with Berta. Agencies around here all take out taxes for us...the main ones that is. Does your agencies give you benes at all? Gee, we get health, vision, dental, 401Ks, vacation, life insurance....

renerian, BSN, RN · Jul 15, 2003

I paid my own taxes and social security via our business for over 5 years. It was hard to do all that. We had to do estimated tax payments for all city, state and federal taxes. We had to make social security and medicare taxes. WE had no workman's comp either. I went to classes at HR block to help me do simple things but we had an accountant on retainer. Very expensive.

renerian

xkred27 · Aug 2, 2003

I think Berta is incorrect about social security. As an independent contractor and small business owner you pay the self employment tax which is both ends of the social security tax. As far as being a 1099 employee, this allows for a lot of flexibility for tax dedcutions that are not possible when you are a w-2 employee, especially if you take the home office deduction. You should try to contact a CPA and or Attorney in your area who has knowledge about small business tax, and also about forming a corporation in your state. I did and it is going to save me a ton of money this year on taxes.

Cmyst · Aug 19, 2003

Go to http://www.IRS.gov

You, my lucky friend, are an Independent Contractor. You should be filing estimated taxes on a quarterly basis, to both the feds and your state (if it has an income tax). If you haven't been, don't panic -- go to a tax pro if you can afford it, but by all means consult the IRS webpage or call them -- anonymously, if you must.

Basically, you must pay the %15 employer tax. Does this mean you make %15 less than you should? Nope. Regular employers figure all that into the wage they are willing to give you, and you should be asking for %15 more than what you could be making working in the Float Pool at the best-paid facility in your area -- if not more!

As an Independent Contractor, you can deduct so much stuff that it is really in your best interest to be one. I wish I could find an IC offer!! Nurses need to get empowered. MDs have been IC's for their entire history, and being an IC is one of the hallmarks of a true professional. Nurses claim to be professionals, yet many times they are scared to take responsibility for things like benefits, investments, and yes -- taxes. Other professionals would find this a very peculiar way to act!

Don't be scared to control your own career, and your own choices.

Cmyst · Aug 19, 2003

Oh, yeah -- IC's don't get Workman's Comp.....

but they *can* and *should* pay for their own Long Term Disability Insurance, which works the same way pretty much.

This is not complicated. Nurses Service Organization, the folks that sell those malpractice policies that I'm sure all of you have gotten mailers on, sells one for a very reasonable rate. I'm not sure what their web page is, but if you do a search for them you will find them. Try http://www.NSO.com -- that may be it.

Benefits are not hard to understand. It just requires a little math, much less complicated than doing an IV rate formula. It is entirely possible for individuals to purchase their own health insurance, malpractice insurance ($7 a month people -- come on!), disability insurance, accidental death and dismemberment. Investors will be thrilled to set up retirement plans for you. And "vacation pay" is simply however many weeks off you want to take per year, divided into the remaining weeks/hours that you intend to work during the year. Say you're getting $30/hr. and your employer is offering you "2 weeks paid vacation!" -- they are giving you an extra $2400 a year. Divided over the remaining 50 weeks in the year that would translate to around $1.25/hr. Doesn't seem quite so magnanimous now, does it?

Get a list of the benefits that your employer offers that you actually use. Call some insurance agencies, and get quotes. $300/mo. sounds awfully expensive for health/dental insurance -- but that is less than $2/hr on your wage. Yet, unbelievably -- some nurses think that if they are making $30 *with benefits* that is better than making $35 without!