Has anyone ever worked as a IT/ IS contractor?

Clm

So I'm being contacted by some IT Recruiting agencies they are throwing out big numbers per hourly 40-46 well big to me at least. one company doesn't offer PTO but does offer medical, dental, life insurance and retirement. pay wise as anyone have experience? are there any other pay concerns?

kiki162

Sounds like you have concerns right off the bat. Would pass on this one. Deal directly and not with 3rd parties!

Just think about how much your gonna pay in taxes at the end of the year

Clm

That is my concern I have never seen the tax requirements piece buy the agency says they will pull a little from each check to make sure I don't get a big tax bill at the end of the years

VinnyCisco

Been contracting over 15+ years.

Did they offer the rate as 1099 or W2? I would never trust an agency telling me they would "take some money toward taxes" If your taxes are not done right, the IRS doesn't care. Be careful.

Kreken

I am currently working as a contractor through a staffing agency. As a contractor, you are usually presented with an option to go either with 1099 or W2. No matter what option you select, you get limited benefits ,if any, and get payed only for what time you work. This means no holiday pay, vacation, sick days and etc. On the positive side, you always get payed for the hours put in. If your rate is low enough, you can even get 1.5 rate for overtime. If not, you still get payed your regular rate.

I think you misunderstood what the agency was telling you when explaining the difference between 1099 and W2.

The big difference between 1099 and W2 is taxes. With 1099, you pay 7.5% more taxes than W2 but you can write off expenses. With W2, your estimate taxes are deducted from your paycheck automatically by the agency cutting your check. But the write off is very lucrative with 1099... as you can deduct portion of your bills, car payment, gas, travel and etc. Let's say you made 90K this year. Depending how aggressive you are, you can bring down the taxable income from 90K to 40K. The difference in tax is huge from 90K to 40K and would be much more than 7.5%. I would suggest to talk to your accountant to see what is the best for you.

Usually rate for 1099 is a little higher than W2 because with W2 you have an option to get some benefits like health insurance and etc similar to what agency employees are getting.