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Re: Should I take a contract position?

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On 12-04-04 10:20 PM, Lew wrote:
> William Colls wrote:
>> As a contractor, you will be considered a "small Business operator" for 
>> tax purposes. Payments to you will not have any taxes deducted, and you 
>> will need to make provision for remitting to what ever authorities have 
>> jurisdiction.
> 
> That's only true for independent contractors.
> 
>> Will you be earning enough to have to register for VAT, GST, or what 
>> ever other business taxes are applicable?
> 
> Irrelevant if you're a contractor working for a contracting firm.
> 
>> Will you need to incorporate? There are pros and cons to this, and 
>> location can have big impact.
> 
> Irrelevant if you're a contractor working for a contracting firm.
> 
>> How much will Business Insurance cost? Do you need coverage?
> 
> Irrelevant if you're a contractor working for a contracting firm.
> 
>> Contracting can be a great way to go, but you need a fair tolerance for 
>> risk.
> 
> About the same as for direct employment.

In my other post in this thread I mentioned that I contract. Well, I do,
but it's contracting through a consultancy, and has been for years. So
really what's being contracted out there are company services. I have
contracted truly on my lonesome also.

I honestly feel more secure in my current situation - in my case working
in a consultancy, but being a favoured contractor for a well-regarded
contracting firm is nearly as good - than I ever have as a FT employee
for a software company.

Working as a truly independent contractor can be risky, but it doesn't
have to be. If you identify a specialized niche that's in demand you'll
never be out of work. It's the navvies of the software contracting world
- the people who know only Java or C# or RoR at the basic levels - that
have a real exciting time of it. They are much more fungible, of course,
it's no surprise.

As to my technical comments in my other post about networking and
equipment expectations, those apply for any situation: truly independent
contractor, contractor being supplied by a contracting firm, a
contractor like me who is part of a consultancy etc. My experience is
that 9 times out of 10 the good-sized organizations with solid security
will supply what is needed.

>> My $0.05 Cdn (we don't have pennies any more!)
> 
> Huh. The U.S. still maintains its penny production, despite their negative seigniorage.
> 
> Of course, everything here is priced to the penny, so there you go.
> 
So is it here in Canada, and that won't change that soon. If people pay
in cash they can't be required to pay to the penny, but payments by
debit or credit can continue to be to the penny. All that we did was
discontinue the production of the coin, but not even the circulation of
it. I stand to be corrected but I don't think there's a specified
deadline for when merchants or banks start removing pennies from the
flow even.

AHS
-- 
A fly was very close to being called a "land," cause that's what they do
half the time.
-- Mitch Hedberg

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Thread

Should I take a contract position? kramer31 <kramer.newsreader@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 16:21 -0700
  Re: Should I take a contract position? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-04-03 18:28 -0700
    Re: Should I take a contract position? Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-04-04 13:07 -0700
      Re: Should I take a contract position? Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-04-04 14:52 -0700
  Re: Should I take a contract position? Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-04-04 13:01 -0700
    Re: Should I take a contract position? Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2012-04-04 19:27 -0300
  Re: Should I take a contract position? William Colls <william.colls@rogers.com> - 2012-04-04 16:05 -0400
    Re: Should I take a contract position? Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-04-04 18:20 -0700
      Re: Should I take a contract position? Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2012-04-05 07:02 -0300
  Re: Should I take a contract position? Jukka Lahtinen <jtfjdehf@hotmail.com.invalid> - 2012-04-04 23:27 +0300

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