G-325a: Part time jobs and contract work

[Wingnutfish 18]

Hi all,

The G325a form asks for my "employment last five years". That question is a lot more complicated than it sounds. The last five years for me have been a mishmash of part-time jobs, unemployment, and contract work that didn't constitute a formal employer-employee relationship. How do other people handle a situation like this?

Thanks so much.

[pushbrk 12,147]

Use a supplemental sheet and be as thorough and accurate as possible.

[Wingnutfish 18]

Is this what everyone else does too? And does part-time contract work really count as an "employer"?

[pushbrk 12,147]

Yes, call it what it is.

[Ryan H 3,791]

And does part-time contract work really count as an "employer"?

Yes

[Wingnutfish 18]

Sigh....alright. This is going to be messy.

[Wingnutfish 18]

Is a "supplemental sheet" just an improvised piece of paper with item numbers specified? There's not a special form I should use? And do I need to write "continued" or something on the G-325a form?

[speedwell 224]

Sigh....alright. This is going to be messy.

Part time work counts as contract work for your direct employer. If you worked for a temporary agency, put the name of the temporary agency, not the name of the assignment. If you worked for yourself as an independent contractor, you are the employer.

Basically, someone you worked for employed you if they set the hours, conditions, and manner of work, and if you had to accept a pay rate instead of negotiating it per job or project. If your work was indispensable to the employer, for example a retail salesclerk in a shop, or a nurse in a hospital, or a warm body in a temporary agency, you are an employee. But if you were just someone hired to do a set job or project, and the hours and manner and pay were basically set by you, then you are an independent contractor and you can say you worked for yourself.

Edited May 1, 2013 by speedwell

[pushbrk 12,147]

Is a "supplemental sheet" just an improvised piece of paper with item numbers specified? There's not a special form I should use? And do I need to write "continued" or something on the G-325a form?

Sure, it's a Supplemental Sheet for Your Full NAME G325a continued. (Not rocket science) I suggest you create a table in a Word document that has the same configuration and number of columns you see in the G325a. You can then have as many rows as you need.

Speedwell gave you good guidance as well. In short though, if any taxes were witheld or would have been witheld, then you are an employee. If you received employee assignments from an agency, the agency was probably the employer. If you were paid as an independent contractor, simply indicate self employed with an occupation, for a period of time. The occupation could be as simple as "odd jobs" or "handyman" etc. Use common sense and be as accurate as you can. If it's not "easy", so be it. It's your biographical information, so it is what it is.

[Wingnutfish 18]

Thanks a lot to you both for your input. It may not be rocket science, but there are aspects that aren't clear to me, and I don't want to make any stupid mistakes.

You're both roughly paraphrasing the IRS definition of "employee" vs. "self employed/independent contractor", right? I suppose then I should just follow the way I reported it on my taxes (makes sense). I just have to decide how to represent years of inconsistent on-and-off "independent contractor" work. Just list myself as my employer for a contiguous period of five years?

[speedwell 224]

Thanks a lot to you both for your input. It may not be rocket science, but there are aspects that aren't clear to me, and I don't want to make any stupid mistakes.

You're both roughly paraphrasing the IRS definition of "employee" vs. "self employed/independent contractor", right? I suppose then I should just follow the way I reported it on my taxes (makes sense). I just have to decide how to represent years of inconsistent on-and-off "independent contractor" work. Just list myself as my employer for a contiguous period of five years?

Yes, that's exactly right. if you know the IRS definition, use that. Yes, if you considered yourself a self-employed X for five years, you can certainly put that.

[pushbrk 12,147]

Thanks a lot to you both for your input. It may not be rocket science, but there are aspects that aren't clear to me, and I don't want to make any stupid mistakes.

You're both roughly paraphrasing the IRS definition of "employee" vs. "self employed/independent contractor", right? I suppose then I should just follow the way I reported it on my taxes (makes sense). I just have to decide how to represent years of inconsistent on-and-off "independent contractor" work. Just list myself as my employer for a contiguous period of five years?

That will work unless you got any W2 forms from employers during the past five years. If you were self employed the entire last five years, you only need one line of the employment section, not a supplemental sheet. Enter Self Employed, not YOUR name as YOUR employer though. You were not your "employer". You had no "employer". You were "self employed". It's a distinction with a huge difference.

[Wingnutfish 18]

I've been in Taiwan for the last four years, so I don't have any W2s from that time, even though I did have an least one job where I considered myself an employee rather than a contractor for tax purposes. I assume it's okay to list multiple jobs that overlap each other in time?

[speedwell 224]

I've been in Taiwan for the last four years, so I don't have any W2s from that time, even though I did have an least one job where I considered myself an employee rather than a contractor for tax purposes. I assume it's okay to list multiple jobs that overlap each other in time?

Sure, lots of people work more than one job at a time.

[Wingnutfish 18]

As I thought.

Thanks so much for the guidance. I feel like I understand well enough now that I can make my own judgments going forward. :-)