Being my own boss I have been asked this question several times on what’s the difference between an independent contractor and an employee, especially when they do the same work.
The biggest difference is the benefits. Employees are the ones that receive benefits, taxes withheld, Social Security, Medicare and etc. which will typically cause the hourly payment/salary to be less than an independent contractor. As an employee, you may also be under contract where you can’t perform similar work for other companies.
Independent contractors do not receive anything above except payment for the contracted work. You are on your own for everything else like mileage, taxes, benefits, job security (you have to find your own work, but in reality, no job is safe even if you are an employee).
There are definitely cases when one position is better than the other but for me and my situation right now, I love being an independent contractor. Yes, I have to deal with doing my own taxes and insurance but what I love the most is having my freedom. Not being tied to a company and most importantly earning more.
There are many home-based jobs that are available but most of them are independent contractor jobs. Even if you do small things to earn extra money like selling printables on Etsy, and earn enough where you have to pay taxes you can count yourself as an independent contractor as well.
There is obviously much more to this but I’m going to ask you, which would you rather be. Independent Contractor or Employee?
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