This past summer (about 3 months), I had the opportunity to work for a small home care agency as a senior caregiver that hired me as an "independent contractor." Scheduling was quite flexible and work places was at the home of the seniors I would be caring for. In preparation for taxes, I was looking around for ways to make transportation expenses as deductibles (with confusing conclusion considering that I only worked for 3 months, possibly making my work locations "temporary"??), despite home locations mostly being close to my home. Within this time of research, I saw that there have been wrongful classifications of senior caregivers by home care agencies as "independent contractor," when they really fit more of an employee under the home care agency; thus, I should be taxed within the terms of W-2 rather than 1099. Which information is correct and would I fall under as an employee in the eyes of the IRS when filing, despite my employer declaring me an independent contractor to receive less tax payments?
For more information, I just realized that I signed a W-2 form that states that the home care agency should have been withholding my tax payments from my checks, but they did not work with this format. Rather, I had an hourly (say $15), and if I worked 10 hours, I would get the full $150, no tax payments withheld.
