Operations: Are Your Tutors Employees or Contractors?

05/03/2019
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Steps to determine if your tutors are employees or subcontractors
The IRS test often is termed the “right-to-control test” because each factor is designed to evaluate who controls how work is performed. Under IRS rules and common-law doctrine, independent contractors control the manner and means by which contracted services, products, or results are achieved. The more control a company exercises over how, when, where, and by whom work is performed, the more likely the workers are employees, not independent contractors.  There are 20 criteria the IRS uses to make a determination.
A worker does not have to meet all 20 criteria to qualify as an employee or independent contractor, and no single factor is decisive in determining a worker’s status. The individual circumstances of each case determine the weight IRS assigns different factors.
NOTE: Employers uncertain about how to classify a worker can request an IRS determination by filing Form SS-8, “Determination of Employee Work Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding.” However, some tax specialists caution that IRS usually classifies workers as employees whenever their status is not clear-cut. In addition, employers that request an IRS determination lose certain protections against liability for misclassification.
The common law test 
The common law test: IRS examiners use the 20-factor common law test to measure how much control you have over the worker. These factors are reflected on IRS Form SS-8, (this form can be downloaded at www.irs.gov)“Determination of Employee Work Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding.”
You can fill out the SS-8, including the facts of your relationship with the worker, and submit it to the IRS to get a determination of whether the worker is your employee or not.
The reasonable basis test 
The reasonable basis test is considered a “safe harbor.” That is, if you can show you had a reasonable basis for treating a worker as an independent contractor, the IRS is prohibited from reclassifying the worker as your employee either prospectively or retroactively. You have a reasonable basis for treating a worker as an independent if one or more of the following conditions exist:
  • A court ruling in favor of treating workers in similar circumstances as non-employees;
  • A ruling by the IRS (usually a Revenue Ruling) stating that similar workers are not employees subject to employment taxes;
  • An IRS Technical Advice Memorandum or Private Letter Ruling issued to your company, indicating that the particular worker isn’t an employee;
  • A past IRS payroll audit that didn’t find workers in similar positions at your company to be employees; or
  • A longstanding, widely recognized practice in your industry of treating similar workers as independent contractors.
NOTE: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has recommended that IRS pursue legislative proposals that would mandate withholding of income taxes on payments made to independent contractors and require monthly estimated tax payments. TIGTA made these recommendations in order to curtail estimated tax payment
If you are still unsure about employment designations, contact us for help.