Being an independent contractor...

[treg50]

...what does it take?

Specifically, I mean, do I have to do any legal 'declaration' or something? For tax purposes, that type of thing. I'm working for a company right now, on a 3-month contract. They are the 'Client' and I am the 'Contractor,' there is no 'employer-employee' relationship, they are paying me for my services, etc.

[abyss]

You should go and get a business number/gst number, so that you qualify as a home business. Otherwise they'd just be paying you under the table (sortof). Plus when you get the GST number, that's when you can write things off from taxes. Without it, it is just extra income that you'd have to claim and end up paying way more taxes than you should.

[TrevorK]

Remember, that just because you and the company define the relationship as a contractor, does not mean that the CCRA will. They have certain conditions, such as who owns the equipment, are you given a set list of duties, is the work at the same location, etc, etc.... that they go through when determining whether you are a contractor or not.

You should contact your local tax office, and they can give you a list of what they will look for when determining if you have a employee employer relationship, or a contractor relationship.


http://www.fp.ucalgary.ca/financial/payroll/self-employment.htm


As for do you need to do anything formal to run a sole proprietorship? No.

[TrevorK]

Originally posted by abyss
You should go and get a business number/gst number, so that you qualify as a home business. Otherwise they'd just be paying you under the table (sortof). Plus when you get the GST number, that's when you can write things off from taxes. Without it, it is just extra income that you'd have to claim and end up paying way more taxes than you should.

You only need a GST number if you make more than 30K/year. And without it, you can still write off all the expenses you would have with the number.

As well, you don't need a business number to claim the expenses relating to a home office.

[abyss]

sorry, I was under the impression that it would've been more than 30K a year. But TrevorK is right, the best thing would be to contact your local office.

[D. Dub]

SAVE MONEY FOR THE TAXES you'll have to pay!!!!