The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently audited the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS’s) SS-8 Program, which addresses worker classification issues. The standard options have been either employee or independent contractor. However, in recent years, classification has become more complicated with the emergence of the “gig economy,” defined by its reliance on short-term contracts and freelance work.
TIGTA found that the IRS has mishandled gig economy worker issues in its SS-8 Program due to lack of guidance on the topic. Worker classification cases on the whole are also not handled well. For the time period reviewed, cases in the SS-8 Program were held without action for an average of 524 days, and cases are not processed timely enough for decisions to be helpful for workers requesting assistance.
To read TIGTA’s full report on the SS-8 Program, click here.
