Re: Question: 1099 status and agencies

[Kat Nagel <katnagel -at- EZNET -dot- NET>]

(Please use the address in my signature.  Auto-reply may bounce.)


Christine Davis and Ron Sering wrote:
> I've
> discussed doing 1099 work with a couple of agencies, and they are
> absolutely not interested. They tell me I need a company name and Fed tax
> ID number. That is not 1099 status as far as I can tell,

Sure it is.  I've had a company name (known around here as a DBA, 'doing
business as...') and a Fed tax # for about 13 years, and until recently I've
always worked as a 1099-type independent contractor.  As long as nobody
witholds taxes for you or gives you benefits or requires that you work only
for them or does any of the other things the IRS uses to distinguish indies
from employees, you're an independent contractor.

BTW, not all my clients actually send me a 1099 form at the end of the year.
Some of them pay me through their standard purchase order system, just like a
box of widgets.  The IRS doesn't seem to care, as long as I pay my taxes in
full and on time <grin>.


> Is it equally difficult to contract directly with clients on a 1099
> basis?

Some large companies have started refusing to hire independent contractors;
they insist that you go through an agency that is on their list of approved
vendors.  Some of these agencies require you to be their employee (W2), others
don't.  Shop around.  Ask about 'pass-through' or 'partnering' arrangements.

--

K@
Kat Nagel, MasterWork Consulting Services         Rochester NY
________________________  mwrk -at- aol -dot- com  or  katnagel -at- eznet -dot- net

Documentation // Templates // Conversions // Web site planning

"Just because a network architecture has been designed to survive
 nuclear holocaust doesn't mean it is immune to WebTV or a bunch
 of sociopathic 12 year olds." /Lon Stowell, alt.folklore.science