Are You Gambling with Independent Contractor Compliance?

SAN FRANCISCO (March 13, 2008) -- Collabrus held an executive briefing in Mountain View, California titled: “Are You Gambling with Independent Contractor Compliance?”

The program was focused on how participants could mitigate the risks involved with using Independent Contractors to get projects done within their company.

Using Independent Contractors has become a vital component of workforce planning in today’s marketplace. But this contingent workforce can expose organizations to significant risk. The IRS, EDD and numerous other government agencies have made tracking down misclassified Independent Contractors a top priority. Their motivation is to close what they call the “Tax Gap” – the estimated $35 billion per year in income taxes and unpaid employment taxes that are not collected due to the misclassification of workers. The combined back taxes, penalties and interest a company may face for violations can reach into the millions of dollars.

The event was attended by senior executives in Human Resources, Finance, Procurement, and Legal from a number of leading Silicon Valley companies who use contingent labor. At the briefing attendees learned:

The 5 most dangerous assumptions companies make about using Independent Contractors, and how to can avoid them
The most common triggers for a potentially destructive company audit, and the potential financial implications if audited
The simple steps to take which mitigate the risks involved with using Independent Contractors

The featured speaker was Walter Branam who has over 30 years of experience working with The State of California’s Employment Development Department (CA EDD) in labor and tax audits. As a former Tax Auditor, Tax Administrator, facilitator of the CA EDD’s first Taxpayer Rights Advocate Program, and designer of the CA EDD’s Settlement Program his knowledge of the Federal and State employment laws, regulations, and audit criteria provides valuable insight into how to prevent worker misclassification. Walt has been a featured speaker before numerous industry and professional groups and brings his compliance expertise to the private sector as the in-house Worker Classification and Employment Tax Compliance Specialist at Collabrus Inc.

Collabrus executive briefings are scheduled throughout the year. If you are interested in attending a future briefing please contact: Christine Couture, 415-391-1038, ccouture@collabrusinc.com

There is no cost to attend, but space is limited, so make sure you sign up early.