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independent contractor tax help

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clhereistian

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I've just started doing programming and website work for a few companies in the hours after my full-time job. From what I understand, my tax status is as an independent contractor, and I plan to file under my SSN.

Here's my question - a couple of times I took on jobs that were outside my area of expertise and subbed out the work. One time it was through this website:

www.scriptlance.com

The workers bid on the job I post, and the whole thing is a bit anonymous. The payments are made from my credit card to the website, not to the worker. They didn't give me much of a receipt; all I can get is a three-line print out stating that I paid them X-dollars, and then detailing that the money went to the worker and to the website's fee.

Is this legal for me to do? What sort of documentation do I need to maintain in order to stay legal on taxes?
 


CraigFL

Member
The whole problem with "independant contractors" these days is if they are real employees or not. If they are determined to be real employees, you would need to pay the appropriate taxes -- FICA, FUTA and SUTA. Also things that need to be considered are - workmans comp, insurance, overtime as well as other obscure rules. Most states have strict rules for their definition. Most states would also say that you need to register with them as a business, even if you are a sole propriatorship(using your own SSN). Of course, filing business taxes would mean you're subject to audit and you would need the appropriate documentation to back up your claims.
 

clhereistian

Junior Member
Does anyone know the specific law in my state? I have the potential to make a decent supplemental income from this, and i want to do it right.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Does anyone know the specific law in my state? I have the potential to make a decent supplemental income from this, and i want to do it right.
Ind. Contractors is a Federal matter.
If you basically said "I'd like a website that looks like this" and then received a web site, you are probably dealing with an independent contractor. Additionally, if you paid an agency who then paid the other person, that is much like a temporary agency, so you would also not be responsible for paying taxes.
 

clhereistian

Junior Member
Thanks for your reply; it was helpful. What level of detail do I need in my documentation? All I get is a cople of lines of printout each time I use this website. It states that amount paid and the screen name of the person the payment is gong to. Is this sufficient?
 

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