What To Do, What To Do.............

1. The IRS has ruled that Independent Contractors of CTG are actually employees.

2. You won't "roll over" and accept that IRS ruling based on the fact that you "modeled" CTG after another company who found favor with the IRS YEARS ago. I've read that ruling. I'm very sure that there are far less than 30% of this industry paying by 1099 in 2009.

3. You signed under penalty of perjury that you paid me 50% of the base of every job I did, plus 100% of the gratuity, yet the pay records show that you paid me $17.00 per job, plus gratuity (it was a couple dollars higher if it was a farm-in) - but those companies that farmed-in charged MUCH higher, and 50% of THAT base is substantially higher than what you paid me.

4. If I received 50% of the base of every as-directed, plus gratuity, you owe me a heck of a bit o'change. I was paid $10.00 per hour for as-directeds, plus gratuity.

Look at it this way:

Client J is billed for 6 hours at a cost of $300.00 for the base.

I am paid $60.00 instead of $150.00, leaving a balance according to your agreement with me of $90.00.

How many of those as-directeds are we talking about?

5. The issue becomes do you fight the IRS ruling or pay the taxes to the tune of God knows what? If you're going to stick to your guns that we were Independent Contractors, get out your calculator and figure out the base of every job I did and pay me what you owe me.

And have a great day!

The Issue Is NOT Independent Contractors Within The Livery Industry

Independent Contractors are everywhere in the livery industry and always will be. The issue is not "doing away" with Independent Contractors. The issue is the agreement under which the Independent Contractor performs his or her job. If you have an agreement where you state you paid an Independent Contractor 50% or 60% or 45% of the base, did you? If your I/C was actually paid $17.00 per job, that's not 50% of the base of ANY airport. If your I/C was paid $10.00 per hour for as directed's, that's not 50% of the base, unless you only charge $20.00 per hour, and we know that isn't reality.

Proper pay and fair treatment is all I seek.

"Jane Doe" Has Her First Amendment Right To Free Speech

I can have a blog. If you're going to go on the record and lie about me, I have the 1st Amendment right to dispute those lies.

How Many Livery Companies In Massachusetts Still Use The "Model" Of Independent Contractor?

Less than 1/3rd, you can best believe that. Will you be able to "best the IRS", as many livery companies have in the past? Will the ruling from 15-20 years ago carry any weight in 2009? Maybe not.

There ARE Good Livery Companies In Massachusetts

I know this for a fact because I work for one. I am now treated fairly and paid hourly. I have benefits, and I am not afraid to file my taxes. Good companies are out here, Chauffeurs!

WHY IT MATTERS

People have asked me why it matters whether I was called an I/C or an employee. It's really not that hard to figure out if you're one of the misclassified employees. It may be a bit harder for you to understand if you're one of those companies that has Chauffeurs who are not reaping the benefits of being an employee. It's also much less expensive for you, as an owner, if you're not paying the proper costs associated with having employees vs. I/Cs.

After leaving CTG, I began working with REAL I/Cs. The company I work for has both employees and I/Cs. Having never been an employee paid by the job, with no taxes withheld, I really was clueless as to how an actual I/C was paid and what their responsibilities were and how they filed their taxes.

I was SHOCKED to see that I/Cs are paid a certain percentage of each job, along with gratuity. How come they are paid such a high percentage, I asked? Well, because the I/C is responsible for the upkeep of his or her OWN car. The I/C is responsible for all costs associated with having their own business, such as gas, tolls, repairs, insurance, car payments, etc. The I/C also receives a pay check with whatever name they have chosen for their own business, and their pay check is issued to that company name. My hand-written pay check from CTG certainly didn't qualify as a business name, because I don't have a business. My name is not a business and I am not Jane Doe DBA NC Professional Services.

When it came to tax time, I found out that an I/C can write off all of the expenses associated with running their business. What did I have to write off? Nothing. No gas, repairs, tolls, insurance, car payments or any costs associated with owning my own business. Why was I called an I/C by CTG? I don't meet the criteria set forth by the IRS, as we have now found out thanks to David Bennett having the testicular fortitude to fill-out the IRS SS-8 and waiting about 8 months for a decision.

According to CTG, I HAD an I/O or I/C agreement with them, where I was paid 50% of the base plus gratuity! Wow! FIFTY PERCENT OF ALL THOSE AS-DIRECTEDS? FIFTY PERCENT OF ALL THOSE AIRPORT TRIPS? FIFTY PERCENT OF ALL THOSE RUNS FARMED TO US FROM BOSTON COACH? PLUS GRATUITY? Well.....where IS that money?

I have no deductions to take as an I/C.

Because I never was one.

Your repeated lies that I was given a car will come back to haunt you. Where I lived, we were given a parking sticker for each car we parked on the property. We were only allowed to have 2 cars based on the size of my family. I had 2 cars. I had a sticker for each car. In order for me to have parked a CTG-owned vehicle within my complex, I would have had to register that vehicle with the complex owners. Absolutely NO ONE is allowed an extra car. Aside from that fact, former employees of CTG will testify under oath that I never had an assigned vehicle that I kept at my home and neither did they.

EVERY Lie Is Proven A Lie By Your Own Documentation

Every single lie told to LCT Magazine by Mr. Pazzaneze can be refutted by his own documentation submitted to the court!

Notice what I am referred to in the following quote from Mr. Pazzaneze? The EMPLOYEE.

The employee provided that business name and requested to enter into an Independent Contractor relationship.

Really? Where is "NC Professional Services" on the agreement you claim we have where you supposedly paid me 50% of the base of all jobs plus 100% of the gratuity? The first time I ever heard of NC Professional Services was after I demanded my 1099M. I would never call myself NC Professional Services because I don't have a business and I never have. You made it up, and frankly, it's sounds like some sort of ladies of the evening business name. Next time, be a little more creative.

This one's hysterical:

Doe came to CTG asking to be a contractor and brought her own client list. She set her own schedules and would take other jobs as she felt like it.

HAHAHAHAHA! I had TWO friends who wanted to be driven by me after I went to CTG, and decided to come along. Both of them WERE driven by other CTG drivers. If I did set my own schedule, why do I have emails from CTG's dispatch dictating what my jobs were for the next day? I NEVER set my own schedule. Not ONE, SINGLE day. I have those emails, by the way, dictating my jobs for the next day. All of them.

And the biggest WHOPPER of them all?

As a contractor, Doe had an assigned vehicle that she took home and kept overnight.

BWHAHAHAHAHA! NO ONE was ever allowed to keep a CTG vehicle overnight because your insurance didn't allow for the vehicle to be stored anywhere but on CTG property. Even if I finished at 2AM and had a 9AM, I would have to go back to CTG and pick up a vehicle. On my driver trip sheets, sent the night before, there was a section for which vehicle I was to take. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT?

Oh what a tangled web we weave......................

Thank You!

You know who you are! Thank you for the copy of the article!