Quote:
Originally posted by ltl/fb
Since it's you, where do you come out on the no tax w/h etc.? I guess they are probably legitimately independent contractors, and the total amounts paid are under the amounts for which it would be necessary to file a 1099, so maybe that's not an issue. But I wonder a bit about the ind. cont. issue because they are using the hiring person's materials, and are probably acting under their direction in some if not many cases.
Do you think a day laborer could install a faucet for me? I can't get the, uh, bolts (?) to loosen. I did figure out how to turn off the water, though.
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While I couldn't, as an officer of the court, subject to the rules of Cricular 230, blah blah blah, advise a client to not pay taxes, I tend to look at the underground economy with a pretty jaundiced eye.
The day laborer market tends to be populated mostly by members of the permanent underclass and illegals. These are people who for the most part are not going to obtain much if anything in the way of social services. They also as a group tend to live pretty much at a subsistence level.
In a more perfect world, they would have income and employment taxes withheld and they would receive a regular paycheck and benefits. But since they don't have that regular paycheck, then it doesn't bother me much that they aren't taxpayers.
I'm pretty sure you could get a day laborer to fix your faucet. Just drive on down to that corner early one morning, and be prepared to pay for at least a half-day's work.
Oh, and make sure your valuables are tucked away, just in case. It's not socially progressive to make negative assumptions, but it's just plain stupid to lose an expensive watch because it walked out the door in some dude's pcket.
