Is locum tenens W-2 or 1099?

Details

The IRS groups the evidence into three categories:

• Behavioral: Does the company control, or have the right to control, what the worker does and how the work is done?
• Financial: Does the payer control business aspects such as payment, expense reimbursement, and who provides tools and supplies?
• Type of relationship: Consider written contracts, employee-type benefits, whether the relationship continues and whether the work is a key part of the business.

Generally, an employer withholds income, Social Security and Medicare taxes and pays unemployment tax on employee wages. Generally, it does not withhold taxes on payments to independent contractors.

The IRS says businesses must weigh all factors. Read your contract and check with a tax professional about your arrangement.

Describe how the work operates

Take the actual working arrangement to the classification discussion. Write down who directs the work, who decides how it is carried out and what rights the company retains. The IRS behavioral-control category concerns the right to control, not just instructions that happen to be given on a particular shift. Do not select a classification solely because the job is temporary or described as locum tenens. The name of the assignment cannot replace the full review of control and independence.

Follow the payment and expense arrangements

For the financial-control category, gather the proposed payment terms, expense reimbursement terms and information about tools and supplies. Ask the payer to explain any unclear provision rather than assuming that a contract heading answers it. For the relationship category, read the agreement alongside the actual continuing relationship, benefits and role of the work in the business. No isolated term on this checklist decides every case. The IRS says all factors must be weighed together when examining the evidence.

Do not turn withholding into a classification shortcut

The general withholding distinction above describes what usually follows the relationship; it does not prove that the relationship was correctly classified. Ask how the payer proposes to handle payments and bring that explanation, the contract and the actual work description to a tax professional. Do not estimate take-home pay by subtracting an invented percentage. This page does not determine your tax liability or certify that a proposed arrangement is valid. Keep the classification question separate from how attractive the quoted payment looks.

Build a review packet before accepting

Collect the written agreement, proposed duties, scheduling instructions, reimbursement terms and information about who supplies the work resources. Note any difference between the written language and what the hiring team says will happen. Ask for clarification of those differences before relying on a label. The physician offer checklist helps organize the work terms, while the cited IRS source explains the classification factors. A tax professional can review the actual arrangement; this qualitative checklist does not create a new classification rule.