When employers aren’t sure whether they should classify people as independent contractors (ICs) or full-time employees, asking IRS is a smart move … but it may take a while for the feds to get back to you.
As finance pros know, when there’s a question about a person’s classification status, its prudent to fill out a Form SS-8.
Problem is, IRS is a bit backed up with Form SS-8 employee classification requests at the moment.
Dragging on for a half a year or more
In fact, more than 81% of the Form SS-8 cases the agency is currently handling are listed as “overage” — meaning they’ve been in progress for 180 days or more.
That’s according to new research by the National Taxpayer Advocate.
On top of that, the average number of cases closed per week has declined steadily over the past three years.
Of course, there are certain things employers can do to expedite the SS-8 process.
One way: Fill out the SS-8 completely even if certain questions don’t apply.
Reason: The agency can reject and return forms as “incomplete” for missing answers even if the questions are just “N/A.”
