We’ve looked at two factors the IRS uses to distinguish between employees and independent contractors: Behavioral Control and Financial Control. This blog post will discuss the third factor: Type of Relationship.
As you read through this factor and the other two, consider how your homeschool group is treating its workers. Make changes to clearly distinguish your employees from your independent contractors.
https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Type-of-Relationship
Type of relationship refers to facts that show how the worker and business perceive their relationship to each other.
The factors, for the type of relationship between two parties, generally fall into the categories of:
- Written contracts
- Employee benefits
- Permanency of the relationship
- Services provided as key activity of the business
Written Contracts
Although a contract may state that the worker is an employee or an independent contractor, this is not sufficient to determine the worker’s status. The IRS is not required to follow a contract stating that the worker is an independent contractor, responsible for paying his or her own self employment tax. How the parties work together determines whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor.
Employee Benefits
Employee benefits include things like insurance, pension plans, paid vacation, sick days, and disability insurance. Businesses generally do not grant these benefits to independent contractors. However, the lack of these types of benefits does not necessarily mean the worker is an independent contractor.
Permanency of the Relationship
If you hire a worker with the expectation that the relationship will continue indefinitely, rather than for a specific project or period, this is generally considered evidence that the intent was to create an employer-employee relationship.
Services Provided as Key Activity of the Business
If a worker provides services that are a key aspect of the business, it is more likely that the business will have the right to direct and control his or her activities. For example, if a law firm hires an attorney, it is likely that it will present the attorney’s work as its own and would have the right to control or direct that work. This would indicate an employer-employee relationship.
Read the other factors that determine worker status:
And always remember:
Businesses must weigh all these factors when determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Some factors may indicate that the worker is an employee, while other factors indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. There is no “magic” or set number of factors that “makes” the worker an employee or an independent contractor, and no one factor stands alone in making this determination. Also, factors which are relevant in one situation may not be relevant in another.
IRS.gov
The keys are to look at the entire relationship, consider the degree or extent of the right to direct and control, and finally, to document each of the factors used in coming up with the determination.
Still confused? Maybe my book, Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization can help. It’s written just for homeschool leaders.
