How is this 1099 stuff legal?

If you hire a 1099 driver but do not report every penny you pay him, those unreported dollars count as profit to YOU; which means you have to pay your drivers taxes. That does not happen.

I have never met a 1099 driver who was flippant about his taxes, the reason why this appeals to them is the pay is MUCH greater, most guys have no idea how much of the cost of an employee is spent on government BS and "one size fits all" benefits; on a 1099 they can avoid all of that and the driver gets the whole thing.

I was making $1600.00 per week in 1986 because I took one of these jobs, 1099 and 30 percent of the gross was the deal and I ran as hard as I wanted without all the interference that W-2 companies always put up to "cover their butts" .

If I sold my truck today I would go right back to that model, I don't need anybody to hold my hand, pay my taxes, buy my vacations and insurance, manage my retirement or "protect" me from myself.

Just pay me and I will do the rest.

 

If you are being paid on a 1099 basis, it should be a minimum 25% more than you would be making as a full time employee on the payroll. You're saving the employer quite a bit of money in social security and payroll taxes. You also should be covered by his worker's comp plan regardless if you're on the payroll or not.

 

Exactly the way I've always been give me my whole paycheck and I'll worry about my own retirement, I wish they would let you opt out of social security too.

 

You seem to have a whole lot more trust in the "Chicagoland white Volvo businesses" than I do. I don't trust any of those owned by foreign interests any further than I can throw them.

 

You are not saving the employer money, all of the government mandated BS is the "cost of having employees", that means you earn less in your check because the government is making your employer give them your money or spend your money "for your own good".

And what you get for this "help" is a dramatic reduction in deductible expenses, the moment you become a 1099er you get most all of the deductions of any small business.

Your phone bill, your internet bill, your postage, all of the supplies related to driving from CB's to fax machines and your computer are all deductable.

So you pay 15 percent for social security instead of the 7 percent (which is an accounting trick, you pay it all as a W-2 driver) but that 15 percent gets figured AFTER you take all the deductions; deductions you don't get as a W-2 driver.

And no you are not covered under workmans comp, you get paid the money that used to be wasted buying workmans comp; you can buy injury insurance a whole lot cheaper than that turd of a government mandated program.

 

Actually you should make a lot more as an employee than 1099, as an employee you can't deduct much of anything at all.

 

I have never driven for a foreign owned business and I have never driven a Volvo; I also would never live in Chicago.

The 1099 work I did was in Peterbilts with big power and a company visa to get whatever maintenance and repairs I needed done wherever I chose to do it, the only priority was keeping the iron on the road; wasting time by calling in for every hiccup instead of just finding the quickest way to get fixed was the best way to get replaced.

 

I get that. But you're trying to understand why some have a problem with 1099 trucking businesses and I'm trying to give you what I'm basing my reasoning on. I talk to these guys here and there and the story is usually the same and the doubts and concerns only rise.

 

As an employee those expense deductions only go to your boss, but the massive dollars he must spend satisfying all of the government mandates that exist because they assume you could never be smart enough to take care of yourself is money you get when you go 1099.

Much better for everyone except those looking for a mommy instead of a job.

 

There are scammers in every business model, not just nefarious 1099 businesses models; that is just the nature of the beast.

My concern was why the OP thought this should be shut down by the government and the attempt to characterize these businesses as low lifes and the men who drive for them as dumb ### tax evaders who can't see past the end of their nose.

Some of the best drivers I have known in the last 30 years have been the guys who cut the government apron strings and go 1099, they understand the whole business and they know how to make it pay.