July 29, 2010 |
Guest Blogger – Jessica Jacob Kleinschmidt
Jessica is a Compliance Analyst and Assistant Corporate Counsel at ICon Professional Services where she works closely with Fortune 1000 companies to mitigate the risks associated with worker misclassification. Jessica has a B.S. in Economics from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law where she received the Dean’s Achievement Award in Employment Law.
The IRS is conducting 6,000 additional employment tax audits and is getting ready to implement increased 1099 reporting requirements; the Department of Labor has an extra $25 million and 100 investigators working to eliminate worker misclassification; and state unemployment agencies have been stretched to their limits and are out in force – auditing corporations in hopes of big payoffs. To make matters worse, many of these organizations have entered into information sharing agreements which means one audit will lead to another…
Join ICon and IQN for a webinar on Wednesday, August 4 to learn how best in class organizations are using an integration solution to immunize themselves from the increased risk of using independent contractors.
Space is limited – register now.
June 29, 2010 |
Guest Blogger – Jessica Jacob Kleinschmidt
Jessica is a Compliance Analyst and Assistant Corporate Counsel at ICon Professional Services where she works closely with Fortune 1000 companies to mitigate the risks associated with worker misclassification. Jessica has a B.S. in Economics from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law where she received the Dean’s Achievement Award in Employment Law.
Health care for all: it’s no secret that this is one of the main goals of the Obama administration. Independent contractors (1099s), the fastest growing segment of the workforce, are a huge obstacle to this goal. These workers aren’t entitled to company health care benefits so they often remain uninsured – 1099 arrangements also mean that employers escape payment of many taxes that fund current public health care programs.
What is the Obama administration doing to regulate this rapidly expanding group of workers and lower the number of uninsured Americans? Just about everything. From multiple pieces of enacted and proposed legislation to thousands of additional IRS audits to drastically increased resources for the Department of Labor (DOL), this administration is sending its message loud and clear: companies that misclassify employees as independent contractors will be identified and heavily penalized.
Beyond these penalties, the IRS and the DOL are soon to implement new proactive, mandatory reporting requirements. Previously unreported payments between corporations will now need to be reported to the IRS via Form 1099 for annual totals over $600. Not to be outdone, the DOL will require companies to document worker classification decisions and provide explanations to workers in writing (likely with a direct line to the DOL for complaints and disputes).
Will your company be able to comply with these drastic changes?
