Customer Reviews

Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants (6th Edition)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a software contractor looking at incorporating. I had looked at LLC options, but some clients require incorporating, so that was ruled out. My best route seemed to be S-Corp. This book answered most of my questions. The "Incorporating Your Business, for Dummies" was pretty good, but not as good as this book. This book has a lot of details and laid some of my worries to rest. It will also save money with your professional team (attorney, accountant) by answering simple, but essential, questions. Definitely worth the money.

After surveying most of the small biz books out there, this is the far and away the best. Fishman claims his focus is on sole proprietors in a service business (in part to not compete with Steingold's Nolo Press book on small biz which isn't nearly as good). Even if you have an inventory based biz, 95% of this book is still extremely helpful. It covers the widest rage of topics and in more depth and with better organization than any other book on the subject. You won't need many other books except maybe something specific for taxes (do not get Nolo's Tax Savy book -- its very superficial; I really haven't found a tax book that I like yet). If your business will be very large and complex (and especially if it will involve other investors, complex financing, employees or IP) also get the Entrepeneur's Guide to Business Law by Bagley and Dauchy.

A potential employer asked that I incorporate my freelancing business before they start sending me jobs. I wanted to do some research on the pros/cons of incorporating, what kind of start-ups costs this would entail, and what kind of corporation I should be. At first, the whole process of incorporating sounded like a huge money burden on my part--with filing fees and taxes--but this book has helped me sort out the issues and provided detailed information about the different ways to incorporate--sole proprietorship, LLC, S-corps. Although I haven't yet decided which path I will take, this book has made the jump to freelancing, and self-incorporating, less scary.

Not only do I understand my choices better, but I also now understand the different structures for businesses and their tax responsibilities. Great distillation of information! The copies of tax forms in the back are also a great reference. Highly recommended.

Plenty of books impart the basics of how to work independently - but too few include all the legal tips, tricks and traps involved. WORKING FOR YOURSELF: LAW & TAXES FOR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, FREELANCERS & CONSULTANTS covers everything from setting appropriate fees and understanding how and when taxes are paid to limiting liability and getting paid. Record-keeping processes are simplified with sample logs and entry advice, chapters on how the IRS defines an independent contractor versus a paid employee are essential keys to keeping independent status, and advice on pricing and insurance offer key strategy-oriented tips and approaches. A 'must' for any who would work independently.

This seems to be a rewriting of the author's former book "Wage Slave No More : Law and Taxes for the Self-Employed". Following the same steps, his writing is clear and focused. The number of independent contractors and freelancers in the IT market has increased considerably in the past years. But not at all their awareness about law and taxes. That is where this book will prove to be useful, not only financially, but also towards better career planning.

I purchased the book since my employer explained that I will become an independent contractor for 2007. The book explained everything about being a contractor and how to stay in line with paying the taxes, how to protect my self employed status, what deductions I can take, and what forms and agreements I should use. I found it very informative and would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the world of self employment.

I know that as I type this I'm the low stars for this book. The reason is that I don't think the book quite lives up to its title.

Here's what you get: Generally two paragraphs (and sometimes an example) on a wide variety of topics concerned with owning and running a business. Having owned and run businesses for 30 years, I can tell you from experience that the two paragraphs offered per topic in this book are generally not all you need to know if the topic specifically applies to your business activities.

As a specific example, you get two paragraphs in the book about filing for business use of your home for a home office. Although most of the information in those two paragraphs is accurate, it is woefully short of everything you SHOULD know about filing for business use of your home. In those two paragraphs, the author indicatse that filing form 8829 for business use of your home is more likely to trigger an IRS audit. To my knowledge, that claim by the author is not correct. 8829 is a very matter of fact set of calculations that the IRS has no particular quibble with, unless they should come to believe that you are overstating the percentage of your home used for business purposes. If the figures you submit on that form are accurate and consistent, you have no reason to fear filing it. There are a couple of tips you should know about filing that form to your best advantage vis a vis the power of the deduction. This book makes no mention at all of that, and that information is quite important to the subject of 8829.

However, most of the information given in this book is accurate. It will certainly put you in the right frame of mind to specifically tackle a more in depth research effort.

I would recommend this book to two sets of people.

1. If you have never run a business and are considering starting one, this will give you some guidelines that will be useful. Any decisions you make based on the information in this book should be double checked with sources that provide more detail, however, as you could go badly wrong if all you rely on is the sketchy information provided herein.

2. If you run a business and want a quick guide as you consider alternative strategies or new situations that arise, once again you can get some baseline information here, and then search for an authoritative source on your topic as needed.

By no means should you start a business or make important business decisions based solely on the information in this book. There are just too many holes where critical information is missing. Use it to form an outline of your business make up and strategies, and then find more detailed sources about each step in your business as it applies to your enterprise in particular.

if you're even thinking of doing your own taxes; or wondering whether or not to incorporate; or just need some standard contracts; BUY THIS BOOK.

If you already have a great lawyer and a great accountant, than this book is probably redundant.

As with any reference work, you would use it for something like drawing up a client agreement, finding out details about business taxes, or perhaps you might just utilize one of the many example forms that are provided in the back of the book.

"Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants" is a well-written and very comprehensive book on the subject of self-employment. It includes 21 chapters, and covers almost every aspect of working for yourself, such as the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, choosing legal form and name of your firm, home office or outside office, licenses, permits, and ID numbers, insurance, pricing and getting paid, taxes, employees and independent contractors, record keeping, accounting, retirement options, copyrights, trade secrets and patents, client agreements, further resources, forms and documents, and sample agreements.
Anyhow, this is not a book you will read cover to cover, but is very well-written and laid out guide. The only drawback to the book is that there appears to be no link to the sample documents used in the book. I checked the Nolo website and was unable to find downloadable documents used in the book. However, Nolo does sell legal forms on their website.

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First of all, I am an attorney who has helped many people with business entity formation and related small business matters. I also have ownership interest in a Corporation that I write, speak, and do other services through, and am an owner of a production company for DVDs and audio programs. The information in "Working For Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants" by Attorney Stephen Fishman was helpful for all of these areas, both at the office and my other businesses.

NOLO books are exceptional at making legal issues understandable for the lay person. This book is invaluable for the small business owner in the independent contractor area. Please note, if your small business is selling goods, there are other books that would be better. But for freelancers and consultants, this is an extremely useful text for many areas the small business owner must address. It is a book I would not hesitate to recommend to my clients that have their own business as independent contractors.

The book is full of practical and useful information for the small business owner. It starts out with some general advice on working for yourself, and then provides information on forming the correct business entity, including sold proprietorships, partnerships, corporations and LLCs. There is next a chapter on naming your business and how to protect that name.

The book then has chapters addressing working from home or an outside office, and information on obtaining the correct licenses, permits, and identification numbers. Chapter six is on insurance, something some people don't think about, but is extremely valuable, especially when you need it. There is then a short chapter on pricing your services and getting paid.

Chapters eight through thirteen cover tax issues, including basic tax information, reducing your income taxes, self-employment taxes, paying estimated taxes, rules for salespeople, drivers, and clothing producers, and then taxes for workers you hire.

Chapter fourteen covers an area that I personally hate, but is necessary, and that is record keeping and accounting. Fishman offers some good advice for this area. He then provides information on safeguarding your self-employed status and an important chapter on retirement options for the self-employed.

Chapter seventeen covers very basic information on copyrights, patents and trade secrets. If you need more information in this area, Fishman provides additional resources. (He provides additional resources all through the text) Next comes a chapter on using written client agreements. As an attorney, I don't know how many problems I have seen that could have been avoided if the parties would have put down what they were agreeing to in writing. Chapter nineteen covers drafting your own client agreement, and chapter twenty covers reviewing a client's agreement.

The last chapter, twenty-one, has some basic information on getting help beyond this book. As a mediator, I was glad to see the section on alternative dispute resolution. The book concludes with some basic forms, documents, and sample agreements in the appendixes.

Overall, I found this to be a very practical and useful book for the small business owner. If you work for yourself, or are thinking about making that move, this book will help you do it right.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer.