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Message |
    
mb3303
Citizen
Username: Mb3303
Post Number: 155
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 6:13 pm: | 
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I am trying to get freelance copyediting work and I have the gig all lined up except I need to prove to the company that I'm an independent contractor. They have a form for me to fill out, and I need to provide some documentation. I cannot supply a Schedule C or 1099 from last year because this client would be my first client, but the only other options re: material I can provide them are to provide both: "a business license" and "a sales tax registration number." I'm just a regular person looking for some freelance work with this one client. Can anyone shed any light on what exactly it is they're looking for and how I might go about getting it? Thanks! |
Larry Seltzer
Citizen
Username: Elvis
Post Number: 24
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 6:26 pm: |
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That's nuts. I've been a freelance writer for almost 8 years now and I've never been asked such a thing. You have no need for a business or sales tax license. Maybe you can show them an unemployment check?
Incidentally, I once saw a t-shirt in a shop window: It's a picture of Dogbert sitting at a desk with a little "Dogbert" sign and the caption says "I'm not unemployed, I'm a consultant." The store was closed and I never got a chance to buy the shirt. |
oots
Citizen
Username: Oots
Post Number: 408
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 6:36 pm: |
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Actually this is quite common for many companies-they used to require incorporations. You can set up a sole-member LLC with the state of NJ. Or perhaps just register a business name and get a fed id#. They want to make sure they do not have an employee/employer relationship. They may require an LLC.
oots |
JonSel
Citizen
Username: Jonsel
Post Number: 66
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 11:38 pm: |
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Before I formed my single-member LLC, I did freelance and "independent contractor" work. All I ever needed to give them was my social security number so they could pay me and file the 1099 come tax time. Now, I give my business tax id#.
I just ran into some confusion the other day with a new client. They wanted me to fill out a form and provide ID like I was going to be an employee. Very strange. In the end, I gave them the tax id# and that took care of all of it. |
Joanne G
Citizen
Username: Joanne
Post Number: 194
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 6:41 am: |
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OK I know in Australia it's different but I've been a freelance copyeditor and proofreader (not that you can tell from my quick typing online) for over 25 years. Specialty areas are business and education, especially in other languages (I can read quite a few). Best advice is - find your professional editors' association and ask their freelance section!
You need held with your contracts, with setting your hourly rates (so you not only get a fair return, you also do not undercut others nor overprice yourself from the market), with promotion in a professional & objective context (they probably have special lsiting that go to major publishers, for example) and also with continuing development at affordable rates. Your professional association does that for you as well as fights nasty battles with people who won't pay bills, won't pay fair wages, etc. They are your union - use them!  (Here it's the Media Arts and Entertainment alliance which covers writers, editors, journalists, artists, etc. It's an amalgam of the old Australian Journalists Assoc; the Australian Editors Assoc., the Society of Indexers and a couple of others) |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 1285
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 12:24 pm: |
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I've been a freelancer for a long time. Nobody ever has asked me to "prove it." I am not incorporated, I do not have a license or a business registration. I am just a person who does work, gets paid, receives a bunch of 1099s at the end of the year, and pays taxes. Usually my clients ask me to sign the company's independent contractor agreement. Among other things, the contract states that the company will not with-hold taxes or social security and that I am responsbile for paying them myself. Even if you were able to provide a Schedule C from last year, that wouldn't prove anything about this year. The independent contractor agreement protects both you and them. I suggest you ask for one. |
margotsc
Citizen
Username: Margotsc
Post Number: 81
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 5:52 pm: |
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I agree. I've been freelancing (as a copy editor, in fact) for over four years and have never been asked to prove this. Are they concerned that you are still employed fulltime by another company? This seems odd to me. |
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