Hiring "Independent Contractors"

"They (our wonderful government) disallowed his claim that these individuals were independant contractors on the basis that he controlled their time. They fined him a hefty sum and made him pay all the back taxes on their earnings. He had to buy the trucks back and put everyone back on the payroll.

******Actually "they" didn't disallow his claim. The Law did. "They" were simply doing their jobs and applying the Law. That is what "they" get paid to do.

Who says we live in a "free" society? We need to have another tea party."

*****Anyone who says we live in a "free society" obviously slept through US Government 101. ;) Considering the amount of taxes we pay, it's hardly free. However, the taxes we pay fund our defense systems, our roadways, our Social Security program, our judicial system (which we don't hesitate to use when we feel someone has grievously wronged us), etc... We might pay taxes but, in general, the taxes pay for things we use so really, we're rewarding ourselves when we pay taxes. All we have to do is hand over the cash (or simply have it deducted from paychecks) and we get lots of benefits from those taxes except we don't have to build our own freeways or arrange for court proceedings or monitor businesses to make sure they are complying with federal environmental laws or organize rescue missions and monetary bailouts in areas declared a national disaster area or.......

Further, the man in your story had the **freedom** and **legal right** to check with his federal government and state government to determine what constitutes independent contracting and how it affects his taxes and his business. Since he didn't do his homework he risked his business by making assumptions. "They" can't force him to seek information.

The government (all levels) is MORE than happy to help business owners/newbie learn the Law so the business owner/newbie doesn't end up in this sort of pickle. However, like so many people, the man in your story either didn't know he could meet with his tax paid public servant and get the info OR has a resentful attitude towards our government OR didn't want the hassle of filling out paperwork OR simply was too lazy to make an effort to get the necessary information before deciding how to classify the people who work for him.

The man in your story screwed himself. "They" had nothing to do with the choices he made. "They" simply did the job the rest of us tax paying citizens require them to do. If this guy didn't pay up on the taxes, we'd be pitching a fit that he got away with not complying with the Law and that our taxes went even higher to make up for it. "They" aren't perfect but "they" do what they can to make sure we have a fairly even playing field regarding responsibility and accountibility.

And them's my 4 cents......don't spend them all in one place. ;)

:)
EM