Independent contractor

[Argyle]

I got a job offer as an independent contractor for an HomeCare company with an hourly rate of 15dollars. I got 3years of experience as a caregiver.

As i understand you have to pay your own tax as an independent contractor and the only thing the agency will pay is my petrol and a first aid certificate.

Do i really need to get a GST number as an independent contractor? The agency can make an invoice for me and pay the 20% tax if i want to, which seems good.

I don't know much about this and wonder if there's anything i should think about before signing the contract?

15dollars is not very much but it's better then mocking horse shit and getting killed by thoroughbreds, working 50 - 70h per week

[crazyhorse]

I do not think you need to be registered for GST - not certain, but if you look at the ird website, I think the amount to earn needs to be in excess of $60k, and you would be under that if you are only on $15 p/h.

Good on you for taking what you can. Plenty of people out of work so its good to see someone being pro-active. Advantage with being a contractor, is you get to claim back all sorts of things from your income tax. Do talk to an accountant - or try to get some free advice.

good luck

[boomer]

Register your business, ACC, insurance, tax, gst and someone to do your quarterly/yearly returns...

[p.dath]

You want to register for GST, because if you do then you can claim back the GST on anything you buy that is work related.

But $15 is pretty low for an independent contractor. It would make me wonder how good your "employer" was going to be.

Other things to consider. Do you have to have your own public liability insurance, or do they cover you in theirs?
How much is your annual accounting going to cost?


And the final kicker for me. If your going to derive 80% or more of your income from this source then you aren't really an independent contractor - so the whole thing is not very legal.
If you simply declined to pay any tax, they would probably end up having to pay it for you as the IRD would say you fail to meet the criteria for an independent contractor.

My thoughts - don't take up this opportunity unless your short on choices.

[Headbanger]

whoa ,$15 an hour and you pay all your expenses?

If thats the case, I fully support you staying on the dole and continuing to look for a job, That offer is offensive.

[Argyle]

You want to register for GST, because if you do then you can claim back the GST on anything you buy that is work related.

But $15 is pretty low for an independent contractor. It would make me wonder how good your "employer" was going to be.

Other things to consider. Do you have to have your own public liability insurance, or do they cover you in theirs?
How much is your annual accounting going to cost?


And the final kicker for me. If your going to derive 80% or more of your income from this source then you aren't really an independent contractor - so the whole thing is not very legal.
If you simply declined to pay any tax, they would probably end up having to pay it for you as the IRD would say you fail to meet the criteria for an independent contractor.

My thoughts - don't take up this opportunity unless your short on choices.

Some good things to know here, I've read the contract a couple of times and not seen anything about liability insurance. What's that for?

Must i have a accountant to do my figures?

[dogsnbikes]

I got a job offer as an independent contractor for an HomeCare company with an hourly rate of 15dollars. I got 3years of experience as a caregiver.

As i understand you have to pay your own tax as an independent contractor and the only thing the agency will pay is my petrol and a first aid certificate.

Do i really need to get a GST number as an independent contractor? The agency can make an invoice for me and pay the 20% tax if i want to, which seems good.

I don't know much about this and wonder if there's anything i should think about before signing the contract?

15dollars is not very much but it's better then mocking horse shit and getting killed by thoroughbreds, working 50 - 70h per week

There are 2 options: 1st - being GST registered is better for the Agency as they can claim GST, you, however will be locked into the IRD GST millstone for a very long time, and unless you are prepared to either upskill to ensure you have the ability to prepare and pay GST two monthly, and invariably you will be paying, as you are providing a service, with very few gst allowable expenses reducing the gst you will pay. 2nd option - they can deduct your tax at source, (witholding tax), which means you will need to pay the tax direct to the IRD monthly, (they may pay it for you, but I would check after the first month of working that this has been done), this takes a lot of work to make sure you do pay the correct amount, and not end up with a debt at the end of the year. Alternatively, if you were paid wages, this means they are responsible for paying the tax direct, which is the safer option unless you have someone who can give you the support with the legal requirements in option 1.

[Argyle]

whoa ,$15 an hour and you pay all your expenses?

If thats the case, I fully support you staying on the dole and continuing to look for a job, That offer is offensive.

Yeaa i feel it's not a good offer and i can't be on any dole because i am not an New Zealand resident. But the horse job fucking kills me!

[Nasty]

Some good things to know here, I've read the contract a couple of times and not seen anything about liability insurance. What's that for?

Must i have a accountant to do my figures?

It is wise to talk to an accountant ... have one down here who deals with small business types .. but also as a contractor you need to pay ACC as well ... there is lots of things that are just not as simple as it would be. Drop me a PM if you wish to contact the accountant .. I don't think she charges for the first chat

[Argyle]

You want to register for GST, because if you do then you can claim back the GST on anything you buy that is work related.

But $15 is pretty low for an independent contractor. It would make me wonder how good your "employer" was going to be.

Other things to consider. Do you have to have your own public liability insurance, or do they cover you in theirs?
How much is your annual accounting going to cost?


And the final kicker for me. If your going to derive 80% or more of your income from this source then you aren't really an independent contractor - so the whole thing is not very legal.
If you simply declined to pay any tax, they would probably end up having to pay it for you as the IRD would say you fail to meet the criteria for an independent contractor.

My thoughts - don't take up this opportunity unless your short on choices.

I will get 100% of my income from the company, they will send me to different clients who need help in their home. That's why i find it strange why i would not be a an employee. Is it not better for them to just send me around to different places and pay my with an hourly rate as an employee?

[Argyle]

It is wise to talk to an accountant ... have one down here who deals with small business types .. but also as a contractor you need to pay ACC as well ... there is lots of things that are just not as simple as it would be. Drop me a PM if you wish to contact the accountant .. I don't think she charges for the first chat

I did check the ACC and seems like i don't have to pay anything when i did their calculator. But since i wont make any big money, with insurances and everything this might not be a good choice. The horses seem to be better now?!

[Meanie]

I run my own business and have employees. As i read it You will be self employed therefore will have all sorts of expenses coming at you from all sides
For $15 an hour with the terms you are describing you may as well bend over and drop your pants
Demand more or work on wages

[Virago]

Dude, you're being shafted. Seriously. As a rule of thumb, most contractors need to charge double their hourly pay rate, to cover overheads.

At $15.00 an hour, most of your money will be swallowed up by expenses.

You don't know about Liability Insurance? You'll probably need it. Im not sure what you're doing in this job, but if say you accidentally drill a hole in a water pipe in a building, tens of thousands of dollars in damage could result - and you're liable.

As an independant contractor, you'll need to cover your own sick leave, holiday pay etc, and your own ACC.

There's also a lot more to vehicle costs than petrol.

You need financial / legal advice - urgently. The whole thing sounds very dodgy - and I would suspect illegal.

[p.dath]

Some good things to know here, I've read the contract a couple of times and not seen anything about liability insurance. What's that for?

Must i have a accountant to do my figures?

If as an independent contractor you cause some damage you pay for it. So lets say you have an accident in a $40k work vehicle. You owe their insurance company $40k.
People typically take out at least $1 million in public liability insurance.


You can probably get away with a cash book. You record every transaction you make, and just have your accountant prepare your EOY return.

Do note that once you are not listed as a wage and salary earner it affects all sorts of things you may need further down the line, such as benefits, child support, etc.

[Mully]

Sounds like they want it both ways - if you're a contractor, you don't get holiday/sick pay either.

$15/hour as an employee is barely acceptable for that job

IMO - it's a rip off.