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Moving from payroll to contractor?

When the company I work for switches to the next fiscal year, I am being switched from a part time employee to working as a contractor. I have been somewhat confused as to what might happen regarding taxes. I've heard that when on contract work taxes are: not taken out, filed every 3 months, and comes with an inflation on the Social Security Tax. I was hoping you could help shed some light on what will occur with this switch so that I have a better grasp of what to look for in the next year.

Thank you so much for your help! I will be grateful for any information you can give me on the matter.

3 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    As a contractor, you are, in essence, self employed. You will have to pay double the social security plus all the employer taxes that are now being paid for by your company, such as unemployment, fed unemployment and so on. Also, you will probably have to worry about whether or not to carry workers compensation insurance. If you are the only employee in "your" company, you are not required to have it but, if you get hurt on the job it is your dollar. There are also some advantages to this as well when it comes to deductions. You will probably want to get in touch with a CPA and see how best to structure yourself before the first of the year.

  • 1 decade ago

    I would definitely contact my tax preparer for a better explanation.

    But it can be a GOOD thing. There are exemptions that you can take to reduce you tax liability. Such as possible declaring a percentage of your home as an office. If the number is 20% then 20% of all utilities & mortgage is deductible.

    Your milage from your "home office" to the place you will perform work MAY be deductible.

    Any/all tools are now 100% deductible.If you travel 50 or more miles in a day, you can deduct your lunch for the day (receipt NOT required for $5.00 or less, so always claim $5.00 if you don't have a receipt).

    For specific rules you can contact the IRS at www.IRS.Gov for information specific to your state.

    Oh yeah, you don't NEED to file quarterly. But for your 1st year you may want to in case you end up owing. After the first year, you'll know if you need to continue filing quarterly or not.

  • Judy
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    There are rules on whether you are working as a contractor or as an employee. If your job isn't changing, you are either one or the other - they can't legally just switch you to contractor.

    That said, what you heard is correct. They won't take out taxes, and you'll have to file quarterly and pay in what you owe on what you earned that quarter. And you'll pay about twice as much for social security and medicare - if you are an employee your employer pays half. Also, you won't be covered for workers comp if you get hurt on the job, or for unemployment comp if you get laid off.

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