CA employee classified as a federal contractor

[ataguchi]

Hi,

I wanted to clarify if the California employee classified as a federal independent contractor pertained to those who worked for Uber/Lyft/DoorDash folks.  I was a California employee and sole proprietor of a small business, so I assume the above wouldn’t apply to me, is that corrrect? 

[VolvoGirl]

If you didn't get a W2 as an employee but got a 1099NEC then you are an independent contractor for both federal and state.  Independent contractor, self employed, freelance, side jobs, gig work, consulting, sub-contractors are all the same thing.  You need to fill out Schedule C for self employment and pay self employment tax on it.  

Self Employment tax (Scheduled SE) is automatically generated if a person has $400 or more of net profit from self-employment.  You pay 15.3% SE tax on 92.35% of your Net Profit (If it is greater than $400).  The 15.3% self employed SE Tax is to pay both the employer part and employee part of Social Security and Medicare.  So you get social security credit for it when you retire.  

[ataguchi]

Thank you for your response!  This has lead me to ask another question from your response.  How do you track your social security credit during your life? 

[VolvoGirl]

You should be getting a Social Security statement every year.  Or you can go online at https://www.ssa.gov/   to lookup your account.  But if you have self employment income there will be a 1 or 2 year lag for it to show up.  

Request earnings and employment info from Social Security

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-7050.pdf