#independent-contractor
Contractor payments, 1099 tracking, and compliance
New Jersey adopted final ABC test regulations on May 5, 2026, effective October 1 — applying the same three-prong test across unemployment, wage and hour, and wage payment laws. Learn how remote work and app-based control change the analysis, the per-worker penalties, and a six-step audit to complete before the deadline.
For payments made on or after January 1, 2026, the federal 1099-NEC/1099-MISC reporting threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 under P.L. 119-21 — but royalties ($10), attorney gross proceeds ($600), and backup withholding on any withheld amount are unchanged. Here is the vendor-onboarding and W-9 workflow that prevents penalties either way.
The DOL's February 26, 2026 proposal (RIN 1235-AA46) would replace the 2024 six-factor contractor test with a two-factor economic-reality analysis weighing control and opportunity for profit or loss. Here is what changes, why the 2024 rule is in enforcement limbo, and what to document in your books now while the rescission is pending.
Virginia HB 238 makes general contractors automatically jointly and severally liable for wages owed to a subcontractor's employees on construction contracts entered on or after July 1, 2026 — regardless of knowledge, and even when sworn payroll certifications say wages were paid. Here is what changed and how to reduce the exposure with tighter contracts, verified payroll, and clean job-cost accounting.
The 21st Century Worker Act (S. 2159) would set one federal classification test and add a third "mutual election" category letting a business and worker jointly choose contractor or employee status, defaulting to contractor if they disagree. Here is what it would change for freelancer bookkeeping and how to keep contractor records defensible now.
A booth renter is a separate business, not a salon employee — rent is a Schedule C expense, client payments arrive with nothing withheld, and 15.3% self-employment tax plus quarterly 1040-ES estimates are the renter's alone. This guide covers the IRS control tests, which 1099s and W-9s each side owes, and the account structure that keeps a chair rental defensible in an audit.
Product sent to a creator in exchange for promotion is taxable at fair market value under IRC Section 61 — a $400 PR box you review is $400 of Schedule C gross receipts, plus 15.3% self-employment tax on net profit. The 1099-NEC filing threshold rising from $600 to $2,000 changes only when a brand must issue a form, never whether you must report the income.
An $840 twelve-session package is a liability, not income — you recognize $70 each time you deliver. This guide covers the deferred revenue journal entries, breakage and refund handling, the IRS control test that decides whether a trainer is W-2 or 1099-NEC, and the pricing math that shows a $70 package session leaving $40 after a $30 fixed-cost floor.
A workers' comp premium is payroll ÷ 100 × class rate × experience mod, so the year-end audit re-tests both variables against your actual records. This guide covers the three audit types and what triggers each, the documents auditors request, why overtime premium is only excludable when recorded separately by employee and week under NCCI Rule 2-B-2, the 2026 NCCI officer caps of $3,400 weekly maximum and $1,700 minimum, and why payments to a subcontractor without a current certificate of insurance get charged to you as payroll.
How ghostwriting agencies account for the three pricing models — per-word, monthly retainer, and flat-fee book projects — including deferred-revenue entries for retainers, milestone versus cost-to-cost recognition on a $36,000 book, a 150-to-275-hour cost sheet for a 60,000-word business book, and the 1099-NEC and W-9 rules that keep contractor writers correctly classified.
New Jersey's ABC test regulations become operative October 1, 2026, clarifying that every worker is an employee unless you prove freedom from control, work outside your usual course or places of business, and an independently established trade — learn the three prongs, five common mistakes, and a pre-deadline audit checklist.
The DOL's February 2026 proposal would replace the six-factor totality test with a weighted two-factor standard focused on control and opportunity for profit or loss — here is how it works, what still depends on state law, and a checklist to audit your freelancer relationships now.
