Are You Really an Independent Contractor?

This question has come up numerous times in various tech forums among members who evaluate their relationships with their customers and I am surprised how often it is asked. More surprisingly the terms of such a relationship are often confusing to the client as well.

They blame it on the perceived ambiguity of a general description of the term given by the Internal Revenue Service and to a point they are somewhat correct. The IRS paints the term somewhat broadly and its boundaries can be interpreted in more than one way. This very argument is one that is often presented in legal disputes between clients contractors and the government itself and in the end is usually determined how the IRS interprets it on a case by case basis.

But is it that difficult to determine? Is it as broad a term as some say, or can it be more clearly defined with some simple common sense?

I visited a tech forum today concerning a particular issue about client contracts and posted a rather long diatribe to refute certain policies regarding these contracts. To support my argument, I quoted the definition of the term “Independent Contractor” as defined by the IRS directly from the agency’s web site. The statement was not in legalese, but in simple layman terms. After comparing the statement to examples, it was not that difficult to understand at all. It is only interpreted differently depending on which side of the fence you sit on and what you have to gain or lose from it, the client or the contractor. In other words, taken literally it is says what it says This is the way the IRS looks at it. To some clients, however, it can theoretically be manipulated to create loopholes in an attempt to gain from it – at the contractor’s expense.

Case in point. Who among us is in business to offer products and services to our clients such as onsite service, system warranties, software and hardware, licensing, tech support, remote support or managed services, networking,  integration, what ever – and does not require our customers to sign our contract, delivering the products, services and solutions they need and want on our terms, our schedule and our prices?

Yet those of us who contract our services through other national contractors are required to accept their customers terms and contracts with little or no negotiation or without the ability to require the same of them. We willingly waive all of our rights as Independent Contractors to succumb to the demands of the middlemen companies and their customers.

What does that make us? Do their contracts and terms supercede ours? Did we only waive our rights to our terms? Does that still make us Independent Contractors in the eyes of the law? Or have we now become – at least to the IRS – something else?

The Internal Revenue Service defines an Independent Contractor as follows:

“The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if (the person for whom the services are performed) has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, and not what will be done and how it will be done or method of accomplishing the result.” – Source: IRS web site.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=115041,00.html

According to the IRS, in order to be considered an independent contractor, the client can only dictate the actual scope of the project itself or what work they need the contractor to perform. They cannot tell the contractor how to do it or dictate the terms of the work.

It is very clear to me. I will let you decide. 

 

Windows XP SP3 causes reboots on AMD PCs

(TheForceField.Net ) May 9, 2008 — Windows XP Service Pack 3 causes an endless cycle of reboots when installed on certain computers with AMD processors, according to users in a Microsoft TechNet forum who experienced the issue after installing Service Pack 3.

The new service pack, which was pulled two weeks ago for a compatibility issue with another Microsoft product was re-released to the public Tuesday. According to users who posted in the forum, the issue is most prevalent with AMD systems. Several reported the issue with an Asus ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. At least one user experienced the issue with an Asus board and an Intel processor.

Users said they were unable to fully boot the PC, even in Safe Mode. One user known as Fragem said "I downloaded SP3 from the update website last night and went to restart, and got to "How do you want to start Windows", tried all options, and they all reboot my computer". 

Several posters said they were able to get into their computer after connecting a USB flash drive. There was one caveat. "You have to keep the memory stick everytime that you boot the computer", said someone called esadof. "If you take it off, it comes back to the endless loop."

Users were understandably upset, given the recent recall of Windows XP Service Pack 3 a few days after its initial release to the public. "WAY TO GO MICROSOFT!  You know, most people in the business world would be FIRED for this kind of lousy programming!!!", user known as Olykev wrote. "I'm not sure I have enough faith in you people to try reinstalling sp3 again and will NEVER go to your POS vista", Olykev added. "Dirty money grubbing Microsoft.  Build an OS that works for pete sake!"

A Microsoft  employee allegedly asked users on the forum to submit more information but did not comment further.

 

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The Force Field Launches New Features

If you haven’t browsed TheForceField.Net lately you may want to check out some new content and features that are currently being added to the site. Some of these new features are already in place and a few are still under construction and will be released shortly. All of them are designed to enhance your edification, enjoyment and overall experience inside The Force Field.

Blogs – Previously our blogs were officially listed as editorials. To allow for more personal commentary we created a separate Blog section for our administrators, contributing editors and writers. As with the other content on the site you can rate and comment on the articles. You can access the official, personal blogs of The Force Field team by clicking Blogs on the main menu on the left sidebar.

Team Bios –  Ever wondered who the Team administrators are? Read their professional bios! Several have already been published and more are on the way. You can read bios on The Force Field team by clicking Team Bios on the main menu.

Media Center – This new section contains a selection of audio and video podcasts, tutorials, webinars, special publications and other media resources hand picked for the members of The Force Field. Some of the podcasts in this collection are my personal favorites and are highly recommended. We also accept member and visitor submissions and suggestions. You can access the Media Center from the Media Center link on the main menu.

Free Publications – The Force Field has partnered with a major media distributor to bring major trade publications, white papers and other resources in 35 industries to your fingertips in one convenient location. These publications are FREE to professionals who qualify. I personally subscribe to many of these publications and have learned much about trends the IT industry from both a technical and business aspect by reading them over the years. This is a dynamic business unlike many others and if you want to remain profitable and successful you need to keep up with it. Reading – even skimming through industry trade publications and white papers help keep you informed of the latest in industry trends.

I have subscribed to some of them for many years. My personal reading agenda includes such trades as CRN, eWeek, PC World, Technet, Redmond Magazine, Videography, Windows IT Pro, RAM and Electronic Design. While some of these are not currently available through The Force Field.Net, many others are. PC Magazine is here as well as Electronic Design, SC Magazine and Cisco on Cisco News.

If you want to know more about the business of technology, this is a great way to educate yourself. Best of all, it’s FREE and you can’t beat free. You can access the Free Publications by clicking Free Publications in the main menu on the left sidebar.

Updated content in the IT Business Resources Directory and the File Downloads – We are currently adding more entries to existing directory listings as well as new sections and categories. During the next few weeks you will be able to search through lists of legal resources, business tax information and marketing. We are also planning an update in the next few months to make it easier to find and access the information.

As always your feedback is welcome. Any suggestions and ideas for new features and improvements are encouraged. You can send feedback by clicking on Contact Us on the main menu or you can send an e-mail to media@theforcefield.net.

Rick 

 

 

OpenOffice.org Releases version 3.0 beta

(TheForceField.net ) May 7, 2008 — The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 3 beta to the public this morning. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the latest release of the open source office suite originally developed by Sun Microsystems and is considered by many to be one of few serious competitors of Microsoft Office.

In an e-mail announcement distributed to members of the OpenOffice.org community Marketing Group, John McCreesh, OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead, told members of the marketing group that the beta was released publicly to provide a broader base for testing the new version but was not intended for use in a production environment.

OpenOffice.org Logo

According to McCreesh, New features to the office suite include an ability to display multiple pages in the word processor called Writer,  a solver component and an increase to 1024 columns in the Calc spreadsheet,  chart enhancements and an improvement to the crop feature used in Draw and the Microsoft Powerpoint-like presentation program known as Impress.

The new version will support ODF 1.2 and will work with Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac and Microsoft Office binary file formats.

In the e-mail, McCreesh told members of the Marketing Group that the new version would also be more compatible with OS X.  "OpenOffice.org 3.0 will be the first version to run on Mac OS X without X11, with the look and feel of any other Aqua application. It introduces partial VBA support to this platform", McCreesh wrote. "In addition, OpenOffice.org 3.0 integrates well with the Mac OS X accessibility APIs, and thus offers better accessibility support than many other Mac OS X applications", he added.

According to McCreesh, OpenOffice.org 3.0 is due for release in September.

The Office suite is released under the GNU/GPL and is freely available. OpenOffice.org v3.0 beta is currently available for download in English for Windows, Linux, OS X and OpenSolaris at http://download.openoffice.org/3.0beta

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Microsoft Yahoo a no go, so? Time for Ballmer to Go?

When everyone left their offices on Friday Microsoft was mulling over their next move in their bid to buy Yahoo. Everyone returned to their offices Monday morning to find that the tug-of-war was over: No deal. Microsoft decided it wasn’t worth the fight after all. Yahoo and its assets are safe for now. Zimbra is still alive and open. The public can breathe a sigh of relief. For now.

I won’t rehash the details of events during the last three months. It is replayed ad nauseum all over the net. This would become just one more redundant article on the topic. But it is important to discuss.

The question is, what does this failed attempt to purchase Yahoo mean for the company? What does it mean for Microsoft and Steve Ballmer, who overnight seems to have lost some virility as the CEO of the world’s largest and most powerful software company on the planet? What does this mean for the open source community? What does this mean for Google? Most of all, what does this mean for consumers?

No doubt the speculation will continue for the days and weeks to come, but one thing is becoming clear, while the other characters in this story dodged a bullet, Microsoft, who initially fired the round, ultimately took the hit.

Microsoft called out Yahoo for a showdown, Yahoo stared them down and Microsoft flinched. This likely will not bode well for Ballmer, whose tough talk last week suddenly turned to meek withdrawal. Ballmer, who was never really respected in some circles, seems to have lost even more overnight, and some industry analysts now predict his days as CEO are numbered. A few may even compare him to Darl McBride, the outspoken CEO of SCO who led the charge to own Linux and subsequently led his company to financial ruin. Such speculation may be presumptuous, but not unrealistic. After all, it is difficult to be taken seriously as one of the world’s richest and most powerful corporate leaders when your unofficial nickname is “Monkeyboy”.

FF Forum May Post Party Winners

(TheForceField.net ) May 4, 2008 — The Force Field hosted a post party in The Force Field Forums Saturday night.

Beginning  7 PM EDT The Force Field Forums hosted a Forum Post Party for all members of The Force Field.Net. All members were eligible including Admins and mods except Rick. The Post Party began at 7 PM EDT and ended at 1 AM EDT.

Prizes were awarded for the most posts and the best content. All participants had their Karma raised.

The winners of The Force Field Forums Post Party: 

Highest Post Count: Thughes with the most posts wins an nVidia T-shirt. 

Creator of The Longest Coherent Thread: Stevef68 wins a $5 Starbucks Gift Card.

Best Post: Genoagirl wins a 1GB USB Flash Drive. 

Random prizes were also distributed during the evening. There were some great posts and some interesting discussions. Everyone who attended the FF Forum Post Party had their karma raised.

Winners will be notified by e-mail Sunday afternoon with instructions to claim their prizes. 

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest!

About Renee (Genoagirl)

Renee is the owner of Comet Country Computers. She Graduated in 1982 with a Certificate in Data Processing from Penta County Vocational and then it was off to college at Owens Community to pursue a degree in Computer Programming. Later decided that COBOL wasn’t for her. Renee Graduated in 1998 with a Associates Degree in MicroComputer Business Systems. She started her own company in 2006 after years of working for “the man”.

Renee lives in Toledo, Ohio.

About Rick Savoia (rsavoia)

Rick is Producer and Host of The Force Field, a podcast for IT professionals and founder of TheForceField.Net. His interest in technology and media was born from a fascination with both the mechanics of filmmaking and science fiction when he was very young. He was an amateur moviemaker at the age of twelve, dabbling in 8mm live action and animated shorts. He was always interested in voice work as well, often performing voice overs in his amateur productions. Computers were not yet in use by the home user but they were a subject of interest in his films. He dabbled in electronic projects as well, often with interesting results.

In 1982 he began a career in television broadcasting as a film and video editor. His career in broadcasting spanned 14 years. During this time he also wrote and produced promos and voice overs. He occasionally performed on camera. In the early 80’s he produced and directed a show called Filmmakers, a series that showcased local film and video talent. The show aired for three years and was noted for its quirky interviews and animated intro, which consisted of traditional old style cel animation hand drawn by Rick himself and shot on Super 8mm film. (The musical score was created by Jim Chamberlin, who created the intro music for The Force Field podcast).

In 1982 Rick purchased his first PC, a Commodore PET computer. The computer required constant maintenance and he often found himself working inside it almost as much as he worked with it. This piqued his interest in computers. In 1984 Rick and two friends and co-workers from WOFL-TV formed Consumer Software, a mail order retail software company. A year later Rick bought out his partners and  decided to take the business online, launching Zeta Software, a BBS based virtual shopping mall. The online store was operated from a Commodore 64 computer and was the first of its kind in Florida. Unfortunately, the World Wide Web did not yet exist and the BBS community was much too small and sparse to support the business. The company ended operations a year later.

In 1996 Rick started a business producing multimedia presentations.  He left broadcasting to learn more about the computer business from the inside. He worked as a Tech Support Representative for several years while selling and building his own branded computers on the side and in February 2001 left the corporate world completely to open his own brick and mortar store in Winter Park, Florida called Savoia Computer. In 2002 the store relocated to Altamonte Springs.

During the summer of 2006 Rick began to search for opportunities to get back into voice work and discovered podcasting. While experimenting with a short podcast called Tech Ethics, a visit to the OnForce forums gave him inspiration. On June 26, 2006 he uploaded the first episode of a new podcast for IT service providers. The Force Field was born.

Rick currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and two children.

Forum Post Party Tonight

The Force Field will be hosting our second Post Party in The Force Field Forums tomorrow night!  All Force Field Forum members are invited.

Beginning 7 PM EDT Saturday, May 3, 2008 The Force Field Forums will host a Forum Post Party for all members of The Force Field.Net. All members old and new are eligible including Admins and mods except Rick. Prizes will be awarded for the most posts, longest coherent thread and the best content.

The Force Field May Post Party will officially begin at 7 PM EDT and end at 1 AM EDT.

I will also open the Skype line during this time and you can call in to The Force Field podcast, talk about a topic of your choice or leave a recorded comment in voice mail. Calls will be considered as posts and will be eligible for the Best Post Prize!

Three prizes will be given away and several additional prizes will be awarded spontaneously on the spot by our secret roving mod. The person with the most posts wins an nVidia PartnerForce T-shirt. The member who starts the longest coherent thread wins a $5 Starbucks Gift Card. A prize for will also be awarded for the Best Post : a 1GB USB flash drive.

To be eligible to win, there are a few simple rules.

1. All posters must adhere to the rules of the Forum.

2. The posts must make sense or contribute something to the thread.

3. The posts must stay on topic (except those in off-topic threads).

4. Members can promote themselves and their businesses in the appropriate areas and manners but no blatant spam.

5. You can post audio and video in the forums, as long as it is family friendly and work safe. 

6. Don’t spill any beer or drop pizza on the new carpet.

Our secret mod will be lurking in the forums during the party. If the mod spots something interesting you may win an instant prize and will receive a PM notification. You will need to be present to win one of these instant prizes so it may pay to lurk around yourself.

You do need to be a member to post, however membership is quick and easy. Best of all, it’s free, and you can’t beat free.

Bring a friend, bring your favorite beverage and most of all, have fun. See you there!

 

Rick 

 

About Todd Hughes (Thughes)

Todd is a Security Analyst and long-time Linux fan located in the Upstate New York area. He spent the first 20 years of his career becoming one of the top outboard motor mechanics in NY state before abandoning the boats for his true passion. A single parent, Todd enjoys riding his motorcycles, outdoor concerts (especially Jazz), and spending time with his daughter.

 

Read Todd's Blog .