Lastly, of course, if you are a contract worker and do not receive a W-2, then you are self-employed, whether you want to be or not. The important difference is between employees and contractors are described here.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-o...
If you don’t receive a W-2, and you only receive a 1099, then you will need to go through a complicated process to have the IRS determine what kind of worker you really are.
