Are your independent contractors truly independent?

Description

Abstract: In today’s belt-tightening economy, some businesses are replacing downsized workers with independent contractors (ICs) to eliminate the costs of maintaining full-time employees. But just because your company considers workers as ICs doesn’t mean the IRS will. This article offers guidelines to help companies observe the distinction between supporting and controlling the way an employee works, and a sidebar warns that companies must be careful to protect the tax-qualified status of their benefit plans when reclassifying ICs as employees.