My suggestions were not reflective of actual market practice. But if OP doesn’t want to be an employer in the eyes of the law, then OP needs to consider what conditions are needed to make that happen. Or, just own up to being an employer, with withholding, taxes, workers comp. all that. Or do eerything under the table. Not my call.
If you can find someone who lives or works very near by and can do this hour of work before or after their regular job, you may get away with just above minimum wage. If they need to drive at all out of their way to get to you for an hour of work, you’ll need to pay quite a lot more to get someone reliable.
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Maybe you can grab some ideas from job openings like this: https://www.indeed.com/q-Manure-jobs.html
Exactly. Minimum wage might be enough to get the neighbor’s kids to come over, but even then, maybe not. Definitely not for picking pastures. That’s a crappy job, no pun intended. When I’ve hired people to feed I pay them very well, because I need them to show up.
I’m curious if the average small farm owner really consult their attorneys and issue 1099s? I have enough trouble getting people to help me; if I made them report it on their taxes I’d never get anyone.
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I consder this person to be an independant contractor. I do not tell her HOW to do the job. I tell her what I want done (pick up poop and fill the water tank if its low). and she figures out how to do it. The equipment in my case, is my fork for cleaning and a muck bucket. I have another person who runs a regular business of hauling the manure to the dump. He does it weekly and I pay him weekly. I do not tell him how to move the manure. He does it - using his own truck.
The person who cleans the manure for me, is in my estimation an independant contractor. He comes every day with his truck, his forks, brooms and uses his own equipment to do the job. I do not tell him how to do the job or when he should come. Rather I tell him that the horses are in the field over there (point to it) and that the manure needs to go over there (points to it). Then I tell him that I would like him to haul the manure off when the container gets full. When and how he does that is is his issue. So far that works great.
That’s pretty weak. I don’t think that would pass the test of “independent contractor” because you didn’t tell them exactly how to pick up manure. That said, I pay people under the table for work like this, so I would be in IRS trouble, too.
The manure hauling guy - yes, he’s an independent contractor.
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Yes I agree with that. I am not telling him how to do his job. Rather, I am telling him that I have manure that needs to be hauled off. And he agrees to do it. He may do it himself, or he may have a worker do it. But I am not telling him how to do his job
You don’t have to convince me or even yourself. Rather, you have to meet the IRS’ criteria. Upthread, I think, someone posted the IRS’ “20 questions” list that helps people in your spot figure out how the IRS thinks.
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What about a barter agreement? If money isn’t used to reimburse for labor, which category applies?
Barter arrangements do not change the essential relationship of employer/employee or contractor/contractee.
I once had an accountant tell me I owed income tax on the value of my housing and horse’s board in a classic working student arrangement. The accountant was technically correct - it was taxable income; but as in the OP’s situation, what is technically correct and what is common practice in the horse world are two very different things.
