# 1099 or W2 Employee?



## KingJimmy (May 16, 2015)

I was reading up on how the IRS classifies 1099 vs W2 employees. I came across the little guide they published. I thought it might be helpful for discussion.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf

From the way things look to me, it's going to be a pretty big uphill climb to ever get classified as a W2 employee working from Uber. Namely due to the personal financial investment you make as a contractor.


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

I wonder forms the ATO uses.


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## Tx rides (Sep 15, 2014)

KingJimmy said:


> I was reading up on how the IRS classifies 1099 vs W2 employees. I came across the little guide they published. I thought it might be helpful for discussion.
> 
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf
> 
> From the way things look to me, it's going to be a pretty big uphill climb to ever get classified as a W2 employee working from Uber. Namely due to the personal financial investment you make as a contractor.


The equipment is only one part of the list though. LCT had a good article on this long ago:

http://m.lctmag.com/article/1353/in...-understanding-irs-regulations-for-chauffeurs


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## unter ling (Sep 29, 2014)

KingJimmy said:


> I was reading up on how the IRS classifies 1099 vs W2 employees. I came across the little guide they published. I thought it might be helpful for discussion.
> 
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf
> 
> From the way things look to me, it's going to be a pretty big uphill climb to ever get classified as a W2 employee working from Uber. Namely due to the personal financial investment you make as a contractor.


As they claim to be part of the share ecomomy, utilizing under used assets it could be said there is little financial investment. Its just using a car that otherwise may be sitting in a garage.


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## UberBlackDriverLA (Aug 21, 2014)

KingJimmy said:


> I was reading up on how the IRS classifies 1099 vs W2 employees. I came across the little guide they published. I thought it might be helpful for discussion.
> 
> http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1779.pdf
> 
> From the way things look to me, it's going to be a pretty big uphill climb to ever get classified as a W2 employee working from Uber. Namely due to the personal financial investment you make as a contractor.


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## UberBlackDriverLA (Aug 21, 2014)

This has been discussed in dozens of threads, but I will address the financial investment...

It has already been ruled in other cases that using a personal vehicle that you already own does NOT qualify for a significant investment. If, on the other hand, the vehicle was registered commercially and used exclusively for business, then it is an investment. 

Sorry I'm not sorry to bust your bubble.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

KingJimmy said:


> From the way things look to me, it's going to be a pretty big uphill climb to ever get classified as a W2 employee working from Uber. Namely due to the personal financial investment you make as a contractor.


Congress writes the law, the courts hear complaints about the law and the service (IRS) is the enforcement arm of both.

It's going to be very interesting when uber and lyft lose the Employee vs IC case. This could take a while though.


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## UberRidiculous (May 19, 2015)

I find it entertaining to see it called both ways. They say, I'm making Uber Big Bucks because my car was already my car, so no significant investment here. But mention W2 employee debate... THEN they're an independent contractor because by golly they own their own car, the most significant investment. Nice.  No control over what you charge doesn't add up to independent contractor. And trying to extend control over what rides you take is limited at best and means risk of termination.


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